Jakaitis Finalist for 2006-07 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award

(Kansas City, MO) – Ten finalists for the 2006-07 Men’s Hockey Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award were announced today and will compete in the all-new hockey division of the national award for NCAA senior student athletes. Lowe’s recently announced the addition of men’s hockey and three other NCAA sports to the award program that originally was launched in 2001 with basketball. Finalists were selected from a list of 30 candidates based on personal qualities that define a complete student athlete. The criteria to determine the top ten included the areas of classroom, character and community in addition to performance in the hockey rink during this season. The finalists are: Matt Anderson of Massachusetts, David Brown of Notre Dame, Billy Devoney of Air Force, Glenn Fisher of Denver, Curtis Fraser of Alaska-Fairbanks, Jeff Jakaitis of Lake Superior State, Michel Léveillé of Maine, Kirk MacDonald of Rensselaer, Ryan Mahrle of Western Michigan and Nate Raduns of St. Cloud State. These finalists will be placed on the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award ballot for a nationwide vote leading up to the NCAA Hockey Championships. Fan balloting will be coupled with votes from coaches, media and sponsors to determine the recipient of the award. Winners will be announced during the weekend of the Frozen Four. “Not only are these finalists among the nation’s best college hockey athletes, they also have a very impressive list of achievements in the classroom and in the community,” said Bob Gfeller, Lowe’s senior vice president of marketing and advertising. “We salute these tremendous NCAA student athletes for making an impact with their time and talents.” An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the award was initially developed in response to the trend of college basketball players leaving school early to turn professional. Since that time, the collegiate community has embraced the award and the idea of honoring seniors for remaining committed to their university throughout their entire collegiate athletic eligibility. Earlier this year, Lowe’s announced it would extend the award beginning in 2007 to include four other NCAA sports: men’s hockey, men’s lacrosse, baseball and softball. Fan voting for the men’s hockey award will begin March 10 at www.seniorclassaward.com.