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Women's Soccer Claims Two Spots on the 2012 Senior CLASS Award List
Links associated with this release:
2012 Senior Class Award Release
2012 Senior Class Award - Alex Balcer Profile
2012 Senior Class Award - Cynthia Jacobo Profile
9/18/2012
The NCAA announced today the 60 men’s and women’s soccer student-athletes were named as candidates of the 2012 Senior CLASS Award, with Big West representatives Alex Balcer from Long Beach State and Cal State Northridge’s Cynthia Jacobo chosen as two of 30 female candidates.
The award honors student-athletes that excel both on and off the field. They must be an NCAA Division I senior with achievement in four areas- community, classroom, character and competition.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the 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.
Senior defender from Long Beach State, Balcer is a third-year captain and 2011 NCAA Divisions I All West Region selection. In 2011 she was named Big West Tournament MVP and earned first-team all-conference recognition.
This season Balcer continues to show dominance on the backfield, while contributing two goals and 10 shots. The biology-physiology major is a two-time Big West All-Academic selection and was named to the 2011 NSCAA Scholar All-American team.
Senior goalkeeper for the Matadors, Jacobo has started her final season with record-breaking numbers thus far. With 20 career shutouts, she is ranked among the top-10 all-time Big West goalies and her 15 saves against USC this season was ranked fifth in all-time Big West single game saves.
The instrumental defender leads the Big West with a 0.52 goals-against-average and .925 save percentage, good enough for 21st and fourth in the NCAA Division I rankings.
In 2011 she was named Big West Goalkeeper of the Year and honored with Big West first-team recognition. In 2009 she went from fourth-string goalkeeper to Big West Freshman of the Year after recording five-straight shutouts.
Jacobo will graduate in the spring of 2013 with a degree in Sociology and an option in Criminology. She hopes to have a career in law enforcement, working in the crime scene investigation and homicide unit. She is an active member in the community, volunteering for numerous projects.
Each of the 30 candidate classes 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 male candidate and one female candidate who best exemplify excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.
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