Greening Wins Lowe's Senior CLASS Award

Photo by DSPics.com

DETROIT, Mich. -- Cornell University forward Colin Greening, the ECAC Hockey Student-Athlete of the Year, has been selected as the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award winner for men’s ice hockey. Greening was presented with the award on Thursday during the NCAA Men's Frozen Four at Ford Field in Detroit, Mich.

The award, chosen by a nationwide vote of Division I men’s coaches, national hockey media and fans, is awarded annually to the most outstanding senior student-athlete in NCAA Division I men’s ice hockey.

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. The award identifies personal qualities that define a complete student-athlete, with criteria including community service, excellence in the classroom, outstanding character and competition on the field.

"It’s an incredible honor just to be part of the 20 great nominees, let alone the 10 finalists, and to be declared the winner is something I can only dream of. It’s special to me because it encompasses all the many facets of a person’s character, including the community service and the classroom, things that I take very seriously,” Greening said. “This award highlights all of the attributes of the type of person that I want to be. To be the winner among so many great people – when you look at all the different attributes of everyone in the top 10 and 20 for this award – to be the winner is absolutely incredible."

Greening maintains a 3.95 grade point average in applied economics and management and is a member of Cornell’s Red Key Honor Society, which is limited to student-athletes who show tremendous leadership, integrity and responsibility within their varsity program in addition to a commitment to community service and academics.

Greening is extremely active in the Ithaca community with local elementary schools and the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program. He assisted the Porte De Belen Foundation’s trip to the Dominican Republic by helping raise funds for building materials and collecting athletic equipment to be donated to the children of the region. For his efforts, he was one of only 25 students to be named a Cornell Campus “Changemaker.”

“Colin’s very deserving of such an honor. There couldn’t be a more complete definition of a student-athlete,” said Cornell head coach Mike Schafer. “Colin’s been a role model for kids in the community, his teammates and fellow student-athletes and others on the Cornell campus. He’s highly respected by the faculty and others who have been touched by his great enthusiasm and personality on campus."

Greening became the 45th player in program history to record 100 career points when he reached that mark this season. During the regular season, he ranked second on the team in scoring with 35 points in 33 games and was named first-team All-Ivy League and second-team All-ECAC Hockey. Greening was also a candidate for the Hobey Baker Award. He helped guide the Big Red to the NCAA tournament for the second straight season, where it fell to New Hampshire in the East Regional semifinal in Albany, N.Y.

“Colin has worked hard to make a difference in his community and on campus during his years at Cornell and we congratulate him for his good works,” said Tom Lamb, Lowe’s senior vice president of marketing. “It’s obvious that he cares a great deal about others, and we salute his efforts to be a complete student-athlete.”

This marks the fourth year that the award has been presented. Previous winners include Jeff Lerg (Michigan State, 2009), Landis Stankievech (Princeton, 2008) and David Brown (Notre Dame, 2007).

ABOUT THE AWARD
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School™, the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award honors the attributes of senior student-athletes in four areas: classroom, community, character and competition. The award program is designed exclusively for college seniors who are utilizing their complete athletic eligibility, remaining committed to their university and pursuing the many rewards that a senior season can bring. Sportscaster Dick Enberg, Honorary Chairman of the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award, first conceived the idea of an award for seniors in 2001 in response to the growing trend of men’s basketball players leaving school early for the NBA. The award program has expanded the past two years to include a total of nine NCAA® Division I sports – football, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s ice hockey, men’s lacrosse, baseball and softball in addition to men’s and women’s basketball. The award is sponsored by Lowe’s, an official Corporate Partner of the NCAA®, and managed by Premier Sports Management. For more information, visit www.seniorCLASSaward.com.