UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The list of 20 candidates for the men's lacrosse Senior CLASS Award was released on Friday and Penn State was one of just two schools in the nation to have multiple players on the list. All-Americans Grant Ament and Colby Kneese are candidates for the prestigious honor.
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.
The 20 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists later in the 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 candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.
The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced in conjunction with the 2020 NCAA Men's Lacrosse National Championship in May.
The following is a closer look at the resumes for Ament and Kneese:
GRANT AMENT | ATTACK | ECONOMICS
Classroom
Ament has been a Dean's List student every year while earning three Academic All-Big Ten honors and one Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award for having at least a 3.7 GPA. He has completed two internships, the first as a global treasury intern for Chubb Limited and the second as a customer service intern for Comcast.
Character
Ament missed an entire season due to an injury and came back better than ever to break records and became the program's first-ever Tewaaraton finalist last season. He's a team captain this season. Additionally, Ament is the team representative on the Student-Athlete Advisory Board and for the Athletic Director Leadership Institute.
Community
In Spring 2018, Ament was one of 50 Penn State student-athletes selected as a member of the Spiritus Leonius Leadership Honor Society. The honor recognizes student-athletes for exhibiting excellence in athletics, academics, leadership and community service.
Competition
Ament has established himself as one of the best players in the nation. He was selected as a Tewaaraton finalist last season after leading Penn State to its first-ever Big Ten regular season and tournament titles while setting an NCAA record for assists. He was also named the NCAA Most Outstanding Attackman and the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year. Overall, Ament is a three-time All-American and a three-time All-Big Ten selection. He is Penn State's career record holder in assists and is soon to be the career record holder in points. He led the NCAA in both categories last season, averaging 7.41 points and 5.65 assist/game.
COLBY KNEESE | GOALIE | MANAGEMENT
Classroom
Kneese is management major with a focus in finance and carries a 3.44 GPA. He made the Dean's List two consecutive years and is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection. He completed a summer internship at Greenhill & Co. in 2017 and at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management in 2019.
Character
Kneese was a Big Ten sportsmanship honoree in 2017. He has served as a mentor and coach for Stickster Lacrosse during the offseasons since 2016.
Community
Kneese has performed community service in the city of Dallas for the Young Men's Service League since 2016.
Competition
Kneese has been the team's starting goalie since the first game of his freshman season. He earned honorable mention All-America recognition last season and is a two-time Second Team All-Big Ten and one-time Big Ten All-Tournament Team honoree. Kneese ranks in the top 10 in program history in career saves.
