Oct. 7, 2016 Senior CLASS Award | NSCAA Poll
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (Denver/Senior CLASS) - University of Denver senior captain and defensive midfielder Sam Hamilton (Evergreen, Colo.) has been named one of 30 men's soccer candidates for the Senior CLASS Award, the organization announced on Friday.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. The complete list of candidates follows this release.
Sam Hamilton has a cumulative GPA of 3.860 in accounting, helping lead the Pioneers to the top grade point average as a team in the country in 2015-16. To help him gain experience for his degree, Hamilton completed an internship with Northwestern Mutual as a College Financial Representative.
"Sam is a guy that was overlooked by other programs while we were recruiting him. He still had a lot of room to grow, but the thing that attracted me to him was his character and his leadership. To watch him and his club team train in tough weather and tough conditions and see his effort, intensity and focus was unbelievable. After seeing that, not only did I know that he could play at a Division-I level, but that he could be a future captain and the leader of our team. When I took over, my first action as head coach was to make Sam captain. That speaks volumes to the trust that I have in him as a person and the high praise that I believe he deserves as a student-athlete. He does a fantastic job of balancing his academic, athletic and social life. He's a family-first guy and a big team guy. His humility to go out of his way to be there for everyone on the team from the first to last guy on the roster and make sure they understand the standards and expectations of the program has been great for this group. When we look back on his career, the best gift he'll have given this program is that he set an example of what a leader should be for our future captains. He's the engine that makes our team go, and the program would not be where we are at without him." - Head Coach Jamie Franks
Hamilton has been involved with the Denver Children's Hospital by participating in hospital visits to the cancer wing, as well as the Food Bank of the Rockies and the Summit League Food Drive by helping organize, working the food drive and securing food donations. He has helped with One Shirt, One Body by donating clothes and coordinating drop-off to help less fortunate people in the Denver area and has been the point of contact and friend to our adopted teammate Ben Brewer who has battled cancer for the last 10 years. Hamilton has organized visits to the hospital, pizza parties and hang-outs with Brewer. On top of this, Hamilton has been a part of Denver Soccer Camps by working with DU Soccer Camps, PASS Camps and also 5 Rights by organizing soccer activities for groups of kids and helping kids learn about water, health, food, education and housing. Hamilton also helped organize the men's soccer team's support of the St Baldrick's Organization which involved shaving their heads and donating the hair to kids that have lost theirs to cancer.
Hamilton has played in 70 games and had 44 starts in his career, starting 29 of the Pioneers last 30 games. He has tallied three goals and nine assists for 15 career points from his defensive midfield position. In 2015, Hamilton captained the only undefeated team in the regular season, sitting in front of a Denver back four that allowed a 0.40 goals-against average (2nd nationally), kept a 0.63 shutout percentage (2nd nationally/12 clean sheets), and allowed just 2.5 shots on goal per game.
About The Award:
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.
Each of the two candidate classes will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one male candidate and one female 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 2016 NCAA Men's and Women's College Cup® championships in December.
For more information on all the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.
Up Next:
The Pioneers will embark on a two-match trip to Indianapolis over the weekend. Denver will stay in the Summit League on Friday to take on IUPUI (5 p.m. MT), and then stay in Indianapolis to battle its second BIG EAST foe of the year, Butler on Monday at 5 p.m. MT. Butler is eighth in the College Soccer News Poll and 10th in the Top Drawer Soccer Poll.
Week 6 Poll Summary
NSCAA - 7 (last week: 8)
College Soccer News - 9 (last week 9)
Top Drawer Soccer - 7 (last week 7)
Soccer America - 9 (last week 10)
Tickets:
Single game tickets for the 2016 Denver soccer season are on sale now, and can be purchased, here.
Fans interested in making a donation to the men's soccer program can do so by clicking here. Your contribution will make a direct impact on the success of YOUR Pioneers. Thank you in advance for your unwavering support of our student-athletes and their quest for excellence.
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