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OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (August 18, 2010) – University of Portland women’s soccer senior defender Jessica Tsao is one of thirty NCAA women’s soccer student-athletes selected as candidates for the 2010 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition. The complete list of candidates follows this release.
 
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. 
 

Lowe’s, an official Corporate Partner of the NCAA, will announce the Senior CLASS Award® winners during the 2010 NCAA Men’s and Women’s College Cup championships in early December.
 
Each will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition. 

Tsao is a three-year starting defender for the Pilots and a member of the USA Under-23 National Team. She has earned All-West Coast Conference honors each of the last two seasons and was a member of the All-WCC Freshman Team in 2007. A Portland native, Tsao has a 3.97 cumulative grade-point average as a biology major and was a 2009 CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team member. She also worked as a research assistant for a professor during the summer of 2009 and helped write a manuscript that is in the process of being submitted for publication. A member of the Portland Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Tsao also has an extensive history of service in the community.
 
“The nominations for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award for soccer are traditionally strong in community service and academic excellence,” said Tom Lamb, Lowe’s senior vice president of marketing. “This year's candidate class reflects the strong sense of obligation these student-athletes have to their communities, their universities and their teammates and we are proud to recognize them for their excellence.”

For more information on all the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.

 

2010 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award 
Women's Soccer Candidates

Name, Position, School
Kristi Andreassen, Defender, Northern Arizona
Kelly Blumenschein, Forward, Dayton
Becky Brown, Forward, Yale
Erica Campanelli, Defender, Texas
Amanda DaCosta, Midfielder, Florida State
Alyssa Davila, Midfielder, Southern California
Alexandra Elston, Midfielder, Arizona State
Callan Elswick, Forward, Davidson
Friederike Engel, Defender, American
Lauren Fowlkes, Defender, Notre Dame
Katie Fraine, Goalkeeper, Florida
Jenny Green, Defender, Western Illinois
Ali Hawkins, Midfielder, North Carolina
Molly Kinsella, Forward, Vanderbilt
Ali Kliment, Defender, Monmouth
Shay Mannino, Goalkeeper, Central Michigan
Katie McDermott, Midfielder, Fordham
Megan Minnix, Midfielder, Charlotte
Alex Morgan, Forward, California
Annika Niemeier, Midfielder, Oklahoma State
Whitney Palmer, Forward, Oklahoma
Nicole Pasciolla, Midfielder, St. John's (N.Y.)
Mollie Patton, Goalkeeper, South Carolina
Christen Press, Forward, Stanford
Katherine Sheeleigh, Forward, Harvard
Rachel Shipley, Midfielder, Texas A&M
Lina Staropoli, Midfielder, Loyola (Maryland)
Vendula Strnadova, Midfielder, Memphis
Danielle Toney, Forward, Penn State
Jessica Tsao, Defender, Portland