CSF's Gibbens, UCD's Curtis Named Finalists for Women's and Men's Lowe's Senior CLASS Awards

Links associated with this release:
Lowe's Senior CLASS Award Voting Page

UC Davis senior midfielder Dylan Curtis

Cal State Fullerton senior defender Jenae Gibbens (Photo by Jeff Sipsey)

Cal State Fullerton senior defender Jenae Gibbens and UC Davis senior midfielder Dylan Curtis were named finalists for the women's and men's Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, respectively, it was announced Thursday. Finalists were selected from a list of 30 candidates in each division, based on personal qualities that define a complete student-athlete.  Each finalist displays numerous accomplishments across all four award pillars: classroom, community, character, and competition.

With the announcement of the finalists, nationwide fan voting is now open at seniorclassaward.com to determine the 2008 winner. Text voting will be available at a later date and will be announced on the senior class website. Voting will conclude November 9. The fans' votes will account for 25 percent of the total with coaches, media and sponsors making up the remaining vote totals.

Gibbens, a native of San Diego, Calif., is one of the Titans' top all-around players. In addition to her duties on the backline, Gibbens has scored three goals, tallied a team-best five assists and is tied for the team lead with 11 points.

Gibbens was named to the Academic All-District 8 First Team and the Academic All-America Third Team in 2007 from ESPN The Magazine and CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America). In addition, she was named the school's Big West Conference Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year. A marketing major with aspirations of running her own business after graduation, Gibbens is on track to graduate summa cum laude from the university in the spring of 2009.

Gibbens began her lifelong involvement with the disabled community through the San Diego Center for the Blind and she remains active to this day in a variety of fundraising and personal one-on-one participation. She has developed a relationship with a blind man, who prior to losing his vision to diabetes was a college athlete and tennis pro. After losing his vision, he became despondent over his inability to participate in sports. But as the friendship between the two of them grew, Jenae shared her athletic experiences with him, rekindling his passion for sports even though it is now as a spectator. Jenae has always been active on an international level through her work at Zonta, whose mission is to advance the status of women worldwide. She has used her status as a collegiate athlete to help promote sports programs for young women, including playing soccer with the local natives of Peru along the banks of the Amazon River. Jenae has also been active member of the Children's Environmental Trust and served as an ambassador through People To People. Currently, even with her own collegiate career, Jenae finds time to coach soccer at the local high school, encouraging young women to reach for their own collegiate goals.

Curtis, who hails from Pleasanton, Calif., became the first Aggie to be named a finalist for the prestigious honor. He has been ranked in the top two nationally all season in assists per game. He currently leads all nationally-ranked players in total assists with 10 and is second with a 0.77 apg average. In addition, Curtis was named team captain for the second straight season following his team MVP honors last season. UC Davis is currently 11-1-2 on the season and ranks No. 7 in three national polls.

Academically, Curtis was the 2007 UC Davis Big West Conference Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year and owns a 3.38 GPA as a managerial economics major with only one semester remaining until he completes his degree. He has also been a member of the Intercollegiate Athletics Honor Roll since his freshman year while making the Dean’s list in Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the College of Letters and Sciences.

Finally, Curtis' character and community efforts have been evident with a long list of volunteer efforts, one of which includes co-founding the Davis Senior High School chapter of Young Life, which is a Christian ministry club that reaches out to adolescents in more than 2,500 high schools with weekly meetings and various other activities. He has also volunteered for numerous events that benefit UC Davis Athletics, including the Aggie Auction and Aggie Idol.

This marks the second year for both soccer divisions.  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 those leaders to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact on their circle of influence.  This prestigious awards program was launched by Lowe's, an Official Corporate Partner of the NCAA, during the 2001-02 basketball season, added six additional sports in 2007 (including soccer), and has expanded this year to include NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision seniors.