George Washington University

May 3, 2007

WASHINGTON, DC -- Seniors Kenan Cole of the women's basketball team and Jon D'Alba of the men's rowing team were named the 2007 recipients of the Lynn George Outstanding Senior Woman Athlete Award and the J. Dallas Shirley Outstanding Senior Male Athlete Award, respectively, at George Washington University's annual Senior Honors Luncheon Thursday on the GW campus.

Cole, a senior from Rocky Ridge, MD, had her best season for GW this winter, earning third team All Atlantic-10 accolades after averaging a career-high 10.8 points per game and connecting on personal-best 44 three-pointers. She also became the first player in the program's 32-year history to shoot better than 90 percent from the free throw line. A mechanical engineering major and two-time A-10 All-Academic Team member, Kenan became just the second GW women's basketball player to be named a first team Academic All-American. Cole has been named to GW's Dean's List and A-10's Commissioner's Honor Roll in each of her semesters. She was recently chosen the School of Engineering's Distinguished Scholar and is the recipient of a Presidential Administrative Fellowship to conduct her graduate work at GW.

D'Alba, a senior from Berwyn, PA, has been ranked among the top 5 lightweight male oarsmen in the country for the past two years. Last summer, he was named to the U.S. National Team in the lightweight men's eight. As a member of the GW crew, D'Alba competed at the 2006 World Rowing Championships in Eton, England. While the George Washington Men's Rowing Team has had other athletes in the past that have made Olympic and U.S. National Teams, he is the first Colonial to do so while still competing for GW. Graduating with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering, D'Alba will be focused on making the Senior National Team again and representing the U.S. at the 2007 World Championships and the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Men's Tennis player Daniel Balke (Portage, MI) and Gymnast Jessica Guilbert (Roswell, GA) won the Senior Male and Senior Female Athlete Academic Awards, respectively. Top academic teams were Baseball (3.20 GPA) and Softball (3.45 GPA). Also honored were 24 Most Valuable Players, including three repeat winners, representing each sport and the Spirit Program.

GW Athletics Most Valuable Players
Baseball Michael Parker (Newton, MA)
Men's Basketball Carl Elliott (Brooklyn, NY)
Women's Basketball Kimberly Beck (Fairburn, GA)
Men's Cross Country Joe Altenau (Eastchester, NY)
Women's Cross Country Audrey Noonan * (Barrington, RI)
Golf Tim Johnson (Marblehead, MA)
Gymnastics McKenzie Parrack (Richardson, TX)
Women's Lacrosse Katelyn Honeyford (Moorestown, NJ)
Men's Rowing Michael Mancusi-Ungaro (Philadelphia, PA)
Women's Rowing Angela Wunderli (St. Louis, MO)
Men's Soccer Greg McKay (Brookeville, MD)
Women's Soccer Shari Taylor (Fort Washington, MD)
Softball Elana Meyers * (Douglasville, GA)
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 Shannon Ma (Kennesaw, GA)
Men's Tennis Brandon Harris (Pacific Palisades, CA)
Women's Tennis Kendall Swenson (Shaker Heights, OH)
Volleyball Kaimana Lee (Wailuku, Maui, Hawai'i)
Men's Water Polo John Hornberger (Houston, TX)
Women's Water Polo Morgan Hooker (Woodland Hills, CA)
Spirit Program Cory McCrummen (Cheerleading) (Johnstown, OH)
Spirit Program Meg Cerullo (Dance) (North Yarmouth, ME)

* denotes repeat winner