ALBANY, N.Y. -- ECAC Hockey today announced today that Laura Gersten of Rensselaer has been named the 2009-10 Women’s Student-Athlete of the Year selected for the honor by the league’s Awards Committee. The fourth recipient of the award, which recognizes academic achievement, as well as accomplishments on and off of the ice of ECAC Hockey student-athletes, Gersten was one of three finalists for this year's honor. Harvard’s Randi Griffin and Dartmouth’s Sarah Parsons also were finalists.
Gersten, a senior defenseman is attending the Lally School of Management Rank at Rensselaer. She was named Captain of RPI Women’s Hockey Team by her teammates and the coaching staff for 2009-10 season and selected as an ECAC Hockey All-Star that faced Team USA???in preparation for the 2010 Olympic Games. A member of the All-Academic Team, Gersten currently holds a GPA of 3.82 in management, while minoring in psychology. She was recently accepted into RPI’s Master Program of Science and Management specializing in new product development.
When referring to Gersten Rensselaer head coach John Burke, commented, “Laura has been an influential leader, outstanding role model, and has had a major impact in the success of the Engineers’ program in ECAC???Hockey.” Burke also added that Gersten “has earned the respect from her fellow teammates and coaching staff because of her professionalism, excellent communication skills, and selflessness for the betterment of the program.”
The Queensbury, NY native is the president of International Management Honor Society whose members must be in the top 10% of their class in the business school. She has also been involved with the local community having participated in such things as, working with girls’ youth hockey teams to improve their skills on the ice, assisting in Bottle and Can Drive spearheaded by SAAC, and helping raise money for both the American Cancer Society through its Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk and Relay For Life Programs.
Gersten ranked fourth in overall scoring among defenders with 8g-14a-22pts and sixth in scoring this season among her counterparts in league action with 4g-9a-13pts. She finished her productive career on the ice playing 141 games and earning 64 points (21g & 43a).
