Student-Athlete of Year Finalists Revealed

Kirsten Kester of Harvard (l); Danielle Kozlowski of Yale (c); and Sarah Parsons of Dartmouth

ALBANY, N.Y. -- ECAC Hockey announced today the finalists for the 2008-09 Women's Student-Athlete-of-the-Year Award.  Three student-athletes comprise the list of scholars in the classroom and leaders on and off the ice. 

Each school was asked to nominate a top scholar athlete who met the following requirements: a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.50 on a 4.00 scale through the fall term; participation in a minimum of 50 percent of the team's contests (33 percent of team's minutes for goaltenders); and demonstrated leadership on and off the ice (e.g., character, contributions to the community, participation/involvement in institutional groups/committees, etc.).

A committee made up of athletics department and university administrators selected three finalists.  The winner will be announced during the week of the Women's ECAC Hockey Championship. 

Listed below are this season's nominees:

Kirsten Kester - Harvard  (Senior, Forward) - Biology
* Senior co-captain and two-time National Scholar Athlete and ECAC Hockey All-Academic Team Selection.
* Rewarded for laboratory research with a series of grants and awards, including Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology Grant-in-Aid of Undergraduate Research, the Harvard College Research Program Grant and Harvard's Microbial Sciences Initiative Fellowship.
* Helped found the Harvard Undergraduates Bioethics Society, exploring ethical issues brought forth by advances in science and medicine.
* Helped coach a team at the Chowder Cup in Foxborough, MA to raise money for breast cancer.

Danielle Kozlowski - Yale    (Senior, Forward) - Anthropology
* Co-founder of Bulldog Leadership Initiative, helping Yale student-athletes to be world-class leaders in academics, athletics and life.
* Developed honors thesis on examination of the argument that severe climatic turmoil was the cause for the Old Kingdom (Egypt) unified state along the Nile.
* Spent Spring Break 2008 in New Orleans as a leader of a group focusing on the rebuilding in wake of Hurricane Katrina.
* Played in 109 out of a possible 115 games for her career, including a stretch of 79 straight games.

Sarah Parsons - Dartmouth  (Senior, Forward) - Economics
* Member of Link-Up, a student-run group that matches incoming freshman women with female mentors from the  senior class on campus. 
* Volunteer with Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
* Has maintained current GPA with multiple terms of ‘overloading' class schedule, while a member of the US National  Team.
* Exemplified senior leadership on the ice with younger players and has recorded 20 points in 24 overall contests.

Also nominated:  Laura Jansen Colgate and Kim McKenney, Clarkson

About ECAC Hockey
ECAC Hockey boasts elite student-athletes and teams from 12 of the nation's most prestigious institutions - Brown University, Clarkson University, Colgate University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Princeton University, Quinnipiac University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, St. Lawrence University, Union College, and Yale University.

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