Lady Hawk senior Kristi Veltkamp was recently named one of 30 nationwide finalists for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. The nominees are women’s basketball players who exemplify a total student-athlete.
The award, presented annually to the NCAA Division I Student-Athlete of the Year in eight sports and focuses on the “Four C’s” of classroom, character, community and competition. Lowe’s, an official corporate partner of the NCAA will award the winners with trophies during the respective men’s and women’s NCAA Final Four weekends.
The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) senior forward has excelled in all the areas of the award. CLASS, an acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the award was launched during the 2001-02 season to honor the attributes of college basketball seniors who remain committed to their university and pursue the many rewards that a senior season and complete college education brings.
On the court Veltkamp has excelled. She was a MEAC all-rookie team member in 2004-2005 and followed up during her sophomore year where she was an All-MEAC second team selection and the 2005-2006 MEAC Defensive Player of the Year. That season she tallied 68 total blocks. She has career highs of 27 points, 13 rebounds and 11 blocks. Last season she was ranked as high as fifth in the nation in blocks per game.
Her talents go beyond the court as she organizes the campus’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes organization, serves on the Student Athlete Advisory Committee and participates in numerous community service activities with the women’s basketball team. This season already the team has worked with a local housing complex to distribute school supplies to those in need, stuffed envelopes for Shore Up! and worked with local children academically through Project Achieve.
Head Coach Fred Batchelor spoke to her character, "As I reflect on Kristi Veltkamp as a woman of character, I am reminded of joy, strength and peace. Kristi Veltkamp is as unique and as special as they come. Her self -discipline and diligent pursuit to honor her God, in every aspect of her life is truly commendable. Kristi's purpose in life is linked to her intelligence, allowing her to reach her fullest potential, placing her in a position to accomplish her life goals. Her greatest asset to this world is the gift of love. She embodies it in abundance."
Veltkamp is a senior human ecology major, carrying a GPA just under 4.0. She has won numerous academic awards. Veltkamp received the Model of Excellence award in 2006, which honors GPAs over 3.5. She also received the 2006 and 2007 Student-Athlete Scholar of the Year award for having the highest grade point average amongst the student athletes at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. She plans to be a dietician upon her May 2008 graduation.
The list of candidates for the award includes 29 other outstanding young ladies representing 29 schools and 16 conferences. Veltkamp is the only athlete from the MEAC up for the award.
“At Lowe’s we take pride in acknowledging hard work and outstanding accomplishments both on and off the court,” said Bob Gfeller, Lowe’s senior vice-president of marketing and advertising. “That commitment extends beyond our employees and customers and into the communities we serve where these student-athletes become real-life mentors. We’re thrilled to honor each candidate’s contributions and look forward to recognizing the award recipients at the men’s and women’s Final Four.
The list of 30 nominees will be narrowed down to 10 finalists from a national media committee in January 2008. Those ten names will be placed on the official ballot for a nationwide vote during the NCAA Tournament in March. Fan balloting will be coupled with votes from coaches and media to determine the male and female recipients.
The award was conceived by Dick Enberg who continues to serve as Honorary Chairman. Previous winners include Sue Bird (Connecticut), Alana Beard (Duke), Seimone Augustus (LSU) and Alison Bales of Duke last season. Men’s winner’s include Juan Dixon (Maryland), Jameer Nelson (St. Joseph’s), Wayne Simien (Kansas) and J.J. Reddick (Duke).
For more information on the award visit www.seniorclassaward.com
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