OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Senior women's soccer student-athletes Kerry Abello and Sam Coffey have been named as two of the thirty NCAA® women's soccer student-athletes who excel both on and off the field as candidates for the 2020-21 Senior CLASS Award®.
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.
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.
Abello carries a 4.0 GPA as a double major in science and Spanish. She is a member of the Schreyer Honors College and has been named a CoSIDA Academic All-America selection twice, earning first team honors in 2019.
Throughout her academic career, Abello has earned Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and Academic All-Big Ten team recognition twice.
She has also earned the Evan Pugh Scholar Senior Award, Evan Pugh Scholar Junior Award, Spanish Basic Language Program Award, and President's Freshman Award. She is also a member of the Penn State Presidential Leadership Academy.
Abello has participated as a THON dancer at Penn State, dancing for 46 hours to help raise money for pediatric cancer research. THON is the largest student-run philanthropy in the world.
Abello earned 2019 All-Big Ten first team and 2018 All-Big Ten third team honors. She has also earned All-North Region honors twice and was a member of two Big Ten regular season championship teams and two Big Ten Tournament championship teams at Penn State.
Coffey earned her journalism degree in the fall of 2020. In 2019, she was named a United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-American. Sam is currently the NCAA active leader in points (108) and assists (40). Coffey is the only NCAA Division I women's soccer player that has scored 30 or more goals and registered 40 or more assists.
Coffey had a tremendous season in 2019 and was aptly recognized. She earned All-Big Ten first team, All-North Region first team, and TopDrawerSoccer Best XI second team honors.
In 2018, Coffey was named ACC Midfielder of the Year, All-ACC first team, and All-America first team. She was also honored as a MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist.
In 2017, she earned Boston College Freshman Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
She is also the President of the Penn State Christian Athletes and serves on the Athletic Director's Leadership Institute.
While at Penn State, Coffey has participated as a volunteer and coordinator for the Midnight Run Organization. They find a common ground between the housed and the homeless by supporting shelters around Manhattan. She has coordinated five to seven relief missions per year, with volunteers from schools, churches, synagogues, and town members. Coffey has organized fundraisers of food, clothing, toiletries, and other resources to distribute to the homeless men and women in New York City.
Coffey has also participated in Thon Athlete Hour, Racial Unity Network, Lifting Up Westchester, and Out of The Cold.
The candidate classes will be narrowed to 10 finalists in April, 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 2021 NCAA Men's and Women's College Cup® championships in May.
For more information on all the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.