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 Charlie Kruer won the J. Dallas Shirley Outstanding Senior Male Athlete of the Year award Friday. |
May 2, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC -- Seniors Charles Kruer of the baseball team and Sarah-Jo Lawrence of the women's basketball team were named the 2008 recipients of the J. Dallas Shirley Outstanding Senior Male Athlete Award and the Lynn George Outstanding Senior Woman Athlete Award, respectively, at George Washington University's annual Senior Honors Luncheon Friday on the GW campus.
Kruer, an outfielder for the baseball team, will finish his career at GW ranked in the top-10 in eight separate offensive categories, including his current position of sixth all-time with 35 home runs. In 2007, Kruer, one of just two players to start all 55 games, was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Conference team. This year, Kruer is once again pacing GW offensively, currently leading the Colonials with nine home runs. He has played in over 190 games and recorded over 200 hits. With at least 10 games left in his career, he is currently tied for fifth all-time with 168 RBIs and tied for seventh with 47 doubles. Earlier this season, Kruer captured a piece of history when he recorded the first base-hit, scored the first run and notched the first triple at Nationals Park, as GW defeated Saint Joseph's in the first game played at the new home of the Washington Nationals. Kruer will graduate with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice.
A four-year letterwinner for the women's basketball team, Lawrence helped the Colonials to 101 victories, four Atlantic 10 regular-season titles, four NCAA Tournaments and back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances the last two seasons. She finished her career ranked 13th on GW's scoring list with 1,373 points in a school-record-tying 130 career games. A double major in communications and sociology with a 3.85 GPA, Lawrence was this year's A-10 Student-Athlete of the Year for women's basketball and earned third team Academic All-America status from ESPN The Magazine. She was one of three national finalists for the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar Top Female Student-Athlete Award. She is active in both the Student-Athlete Advisory Council and Athletes in Action, and has volunteered with Adopt-A-Family, March for Darfur and the Walk Now! Charity Walk for Autism.
Men's Squash player Alex Funk (New York, NY) along with Lacrosse player Caitlin Garman (Baltimore, MD) and women's Water Polo player Rebecca Stein (San Diego, CA) won the Senior Male and Co-Senior Female Athlete Academic Awards, respectively.
Top academic teams were Men's Squash (3.26 team GPA) and Women's Swimming (3.41 team GPA). Also honored were 25 Most Valuable Players, including seven repeat winners, representing each sport and the Spirit Program.
GW Athletics Most Valuable Players for 2007-08
Baseball Charles Kruer (Old Bridge, NJ)
Men's Basketball Rob Diggs (Brandywine, MD)
Women's Basketball Kimberly Beck * (Fairburn, GA)
Men's Cross Country Chris Pisano * (Toms River, NJ)
Women's Cross Country Audrey Noonan * (Barrington, RI)
Golf Conor McMahon (Portsmouth, RI)
Gymnastics Leslie Delima (Virginia Beach, VA)
Women's Lacrosse Kristin Karcsh * (Kennett Square, PA)
Men's Rowing Joe DeLeo (Somers Point, NJ)
Women's Rowing Laura Crotty (Rye, NH)
Men's Soccer Andrew Stadler (Wauwatosa, WI)
Women's Soccer Amie Kern (Saylorsburg, PA)
Softball Jackie Yaniga (Miami, FL)
Men's Squash Alex Funk * (New York, NY)
Women's Squash Rachel Rayfield * (Linwood, NJ)
Men's Swimming David Zenk * (St. Louis, MO)
Women's Swimming Paola Leor (Miami, FL)
Men's Tennis Erik Hannah (Sterling, VA)
Women's Tennis Nadia Demidenko (Brooklyn, NY)
Volleyball Janine Brown (Jacksonville, FL)
Men's Water Polo Chris Whittam (Hillsborough, CA)
Women's Water Polo Julie Jacoby (Coral Gables, FL)
Spirit Program Alyscia Eisen (Cheerleading) (Cortlandt Manor, NY)
Spirit Program Katrina Ulcickas (Dance) (Canton, CT)
