Aug. 27, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State senior forwards Jason Yeisley (Allentown, Pa.) and Katie Schoepfer (Waterford, Conn.) have been selected as candidates for the men's and women's soccer Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. The honor recognizes student-athletes who excel on and off the field, weighing notable achievements in four areas of excellence - classroom, character, community, and competition.
Penn State is one of just six schools to have both a men's and women's soccer nominee. Yeisley is one of three men's candidates from the Big Ten while Schoepfer is the conference's lone women's representative.
Yeisley, a two-time All-Big Ten selection, is Penn State's leading active scorer, totaling 16 goals and 11 assists in 41 career games. A three-time team captain, he has overcome two serious knee injuries and surgeries to both feet over the course of his career. In recognition of his ability to triumph over adversity, Yeisley was presented with the True Grit Award at the 2009 Penn State Student-Athlete Advisory Board Academic Achievement Awards Banquet.
In the classroom, Yeisley boasts a 3.61 cumulative grade point average and will graduate with a degree in management from the Smeal College of Business in December. A two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree and 2007 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District First Team selection, he intends to attend dental school after graduation.
With the same determination he has employed in pursuit of excellence in the classroom and on the soccer field, Yeisley has sought to help and raise awareness for a special friend with a very rare disease. He has devoted his time and energy to aid in finding a cure for nine-year old Adam Recke, a boy from his hometown who suffers from Niemann Pick Type C (NP-C), a terminal illness which affects just 500 people worldwide.
Schoepfer is a two-time First Team All-Big Ten selection in addition to being named an NSCAA and Soccer Buzz Second Team All-American in 2007. In that 2007 season, she was a First Team All-Mid-Atlantic honoree by the NSCAA and Soccer Buzz as well as a Second Team All-Great Lakes member in 2008 by both organizations.
Schoepfer returns to the Nittany Lions in 2009 as the seventh leading scorer in goals and game-winning goals in program history. Additionally, she ranks eighth all-time in points and fifth in shots.
The senior forward has been an excellent student, twice being named to the Academic All-Big Ten squad in 2007 and 2008. Schoepfer was also recognized on the CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Second Team Academic All-District squad last year as a junior.
A senior human development and family studies major at Penn State, Schoepfer is looking to pursue a career in assisting at-risk children.
Schoepfer is active in the Second Mile and the Penn State Dance Marathon on campus in addition to volunteering countless hours to State College-area children in various capacities, including as a coach for young girls.
Schoepfer is the first Penn State women's soccer nominee since Aubrey Aden-Buie in 2007.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Lowe's 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 30 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 and one female candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of classroom, character, community, and competition.
Lowe's will announce the Senior CLASS Award winners during the 2009 NCAA Men's and Women's College Cup Championships in early December.