Spangenberg Named Candidate for 2018 Senior CLASS Award
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Senior Simon Spangenberg of The University of New Mexico men’s soccer team has been selected as one of 30 candidates across the country for the prestigious 2018 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate men’s soccer, the organization announced Wednesday. The award heavily focuses on community involvement, overall character, as well as athletic and academic achievement.
Official Senior CLASS Award Release
In order to be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as a NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character, and competition. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the 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.
“It is an honor to be selected as a candidate for the national Senior CLASS Award,” Spangenberg said. “I am honored to be one of the 30 finalists, but above all this is a team and community achievement.”
A native of Brussels, Belgium, Spangenberg is completing a dual-degree in computer science and applied mathematics while also minoring in psychology. Sporting an unblemished 4.0 GPA, Spangenberg was a CoSIDA Academic All-America® Second Team selection last year. He has also received multiple Conference-USA academic honors including several C-USA Academic Medals, and has appeared as a regular on the C-USA Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll as well.
A well-respected member of the men’s soccer team, Spangenberg has continually displayed the characteristics of a leader and has been a model student-athlete.
In the community, Spangenberg not only participates in school-sanctioned community service opportunities with the men’s soccer team, but he also regularly volunteers on his own during the off-season. Spangenberg volunteers at local elementary schools and assists teachers in teaching children to read, write, count and compute basic algebra/arithmetic operations such as addition and subtraction. Spangenberg also takes time to play soccer with students at recess and is looked upon as a role model for being both academically and athletically inclined.
As a Lobo on the pitch, Spangenberg has played in 53 career games and logged 20 starts. He currently boasts a .500 shot on goal percentage and has scored two goals.
From here, Spangenberg and the other 29 men’s soccer candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season. Those 10 names will then be placed on the official ballot, and ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one male candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.
The Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced during the 2018 NCAA Men’s and Women’s College Cup® championships in December.