Wednesday May 27, 2015
Courtesy of TheACC.com
LINK: Florida State’s Lacey Waldrop Wins 2015 Senior CLASS Award In Softball
The senior pitcher becomes the second Seminole to earn the national award given for excellence in the community, classroom, character and competition.
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (Seminoles.com) – All-American pitcher Lacey Waldrop from Florida State has been selected as the 2015 Senior CLASS Award® winner in softball. She is the second Seminole student-athlete to earn the national award, joining baseball’s James Ramsey from 2012.
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.
“I am truly honored to receive this award,” said Waldrop, whose top-10 ranked Seminoles advanced all the way to the NCAA Super Regionals this season. “Being at Florida State and working with so many amazing people has made me realize that being a student-athlete is more than just performing on the field. It’s making a difference in peoples’ lives. Whether it is little kids that look up to you or other students you see every day who want to make a difference in the world—if you show them that you can change the world even just a little bit it goes a long way and impacts a lot of people.”
As one of the top pitchers in collegiate softball, Waldrop was named the USA Softball National Player of the Year in 2014 and is a candidate for the award again this season. She threw two no-hitters this spring for the Seminoles en route to posting a 1.52 ERA with 28 wins and becoming FSU career wins leader (109). For her performance, Waldrop was named the ACC Pitcher of the Year, a member of the NFCA Southeast All-Region First Team and was drafted third overall by the Chicago Bandits in the 2015 National Pro Fastpitch Draft.
“Lacey completely epitomizes what the Senior CLASS Award is, on and off the field,” said FSU Head Coach Lonni Alameda. “She loves the daily challenge of being the best she can be. As a program, we couldn’t be more excited for her to earn this award. She’s definitely earned it with hard work and blood, sweat and tears. I’m excited that Lacey Waldrop represents Florida State softball, but she is also a great ambassador for the sport to go out into the world and show that you can do things right through hard work and earn such a great honor.”
Along with her outstanding performance on the field, Waldrop also has pursued excellence in the classroom, earning multiple school and league honor roll and dean’s list honors. In 2014, she was given the Golden Torch Academic Award for having the highest GPA on the team and also earned a spot on the ACC All-Academic Team.
A leader in the community as well, Waldrop has consistently been involved with activities and services projects around the FSU campus and in Tallahassee. She has assisted with food drives and read-a-thons, and she routinely visits Tallahassee Memorial Hospital to interact with those who are affected by breast cancer. Waldrop has run in the Red Cross 5K and Relay for Life on several occasions and has helped with the Miracle League, through which sporting events are organized for children and adults of all ages with a wide range of physical and mental conditions. Also a member of the Tribe Leadership Team, Waldrop has joined with other student-athletes in facilitating community service projects including the Adopt-a-Street program.
“Student-athletes like Lacey Waldrop are fantastic role models,” said Erik Miner, executive director for the Senior CLASS Award. “She applies the same principles that make her a great pitcher to every aspect of her life, which helps her make a positive difference in the world around her. We’re thrilled to honor her with this award.”
Featured image courtesy of Ondrej Pazdirek/FSView
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