Bonds Garners Three Awards at Annual Jayhawk Senior & Scholar Athlete Banquet
April 26, 2010
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas cross country and track and field standout Lauren Bonds gathered three awards during the annual Jayhawk Senior and Scholar Athlete Banquet here Monday. The evening’s festivities were held before a crowd of more than 900 on the floor of historic Allen Fieldhouse, which was converted into a banquet setting.
“Every year someone asks me what is the best event during the year – a home football game, a home basketball game – and every time I tell them it is the Jayhawk Senior and Scholar Banquet,” Director of Athletics Lew Perkins said. “Tonight is a night to celebrate the accomplishments of not only the seniors but all our student-athletes in the classroom and in competition.”
Bonds and Todd Reesing (football) were named the Robert Frederick Senior Scholar Athletes of the Year. Bonds holds the KU school records in four indoor track and field events and qualified individually for the 2009 NCAA Cross Country Championships last fall. She is a seven-time Athletic Director’s Honor Roll member who will graduate with a 3.93 grade point average in May. A National Football Foundation Scholar Athlete, Reesing set nearly every Kansas passing record and finished as the Big 12 Conference’s fifth-leading passer all-time with 11,194 yards.
“It is definitely a huge honor, especially since we have such an impressive class,” Bonds said following the event. “A lot of these seniors are going to the NFL and the WNBA, so it is really an honor to be selected with so many other strong candidates. When we came here we didn’t know each other the first time we met and to see everyone in this class doing so well is really exciting.”
The Robert Frederick Senior Scholar Athletes of the Year were first named for Dr. Frederick in 2006 and took on special meaning Monday as he died June 12, 2009, from injuries suffered in a bicycle accident. Dr. Frederick served as director of athletics at KU from 1987-2001. Dr. Frederick, who served on the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee from 1992-96, earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees from KU. From 2001 until his death, Dr. Frederick taught in KU’s Department of Health, Sport and Exercise Science in the School of Education. Presenting the award to Bonds and Steve Reesing, Todd’s father, were Frederick’s wife Margaret and son Chris.
Robby Price (baseball), Sherron Collins (men’s basketball), Danielle McCray (women’s basketball), Kerry Meier (football), Darrell Stuckey (football), Emily Powers (women’s golf), Lindsey Lawrence (rowing), Estelle Johnson (soccer), Meg Proehl (swimming & diving) and Bonds received the Senior Athletes of the Year awards. Bios on the Senior Athletes of the Year are below.
Kansas Athletics also recognized two student-athletes as recipients of the Dr. Prentice Gautt Big 12 Postgraduate Scholarships. Bonds and Eric Fattig (men’s cross country, track & field) each received the prestigious award to further continue their academic pursuits. Dr. Gautt was a longtime Big 12 and Big Eight Conference Associate Commissioner and student services’ pioneer who died in March 2005. His wife, Sandra, an associate professor for Special Education at KU, presented the awards to Bonds and Fattig.
Joanie Stephens received the Lifetime Service to Athletics Award. Stephens, who is the Kansas men’s basketball administrative assistant to the head coach, has worked in Kansas Athletics since 1983 and with the men’s basketball program for the past 15 years. Stephens worked from 1983 to 1995 in the Williams Educational Fund and then moved to men’s basketball.
In addition to honoring KU’s student-athletes, the Del Shankel Teaching Excellence award, voted on by members of KU’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, was presented to sociology professor Sandra Albrecht. Finalists for the honor included Albrecht, Mizuki Azuma (biology), Victoria Corbin (biology), Dale Dorsey (philosophy) and Paul Koch (business).
Kansas 2010 Senior Athletes of the Year Bios
Robby Price, baseball
Price is a three-time All-Big 12 Honorable Mention (2007, 2008 and 2009) selection who has twice earned Big 12 Player of the Week honors this season. The Lawrence native had a team-best 24-game hitting streak earlier this season and set career highs in batting average (.296), doubles (14), triples (four), homers (five), runs scored (54) and on-base percentage (.447) in 2009. He is one of just 12 Jayhawks to play in 200-plus games and will finish his Kansas career ranked in the Top 10 in at bats, runs scored, hits, walks and hit by pitch.
Sherron Collins, men’s basketball
Collins concluded his four-year KU career with 1,888 points, which ranks fifth on the Kansas all-time list. The Chicago native also ranked in the KU top 10 career lists in three-point field goals (fourth), three-pointers attempted (third) and assists (seventh). Collins and teammate Brady Morningstar are the winningest players in Kansas history with 130 all-time victories, which ties for fifth most in NCAA history. As a senior he received the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award, the NABC Senior Achievement Award and was KU’s first Consensus All-America First Team member since Wayne Simien in 2005. Collins was the recipient of the inaugural Lute Olson Player of the Year Award presented by collegeinsider.com. A two-time All-Big 12 First Team member, Collins was the 2010 Big 12 Championship Most Outstanding Player in leading KU to the tournament title.
Danielle McCray, women’s basketball
McCray tallied 1,934 points in 116 career games. Her 1,934 points ranks fourth on the Kansas all-time scoring chart. From Olathe, Kan., McCray’s name is all over the KU record books as she ranks in the top 10 in nine categories in addition to scoring. She ranks second in three-point field goals made (205) and three-point field goals attempted (544), third in three-point field goal percentage (37.7), fourth in field goals made (710), fourth in field goals attempted (1,654), fourth in free throw percentage (78.8), eighth in minutes played (3,446), ninth in fouls (326) and 10th in free throws made (309). Last summer McCray was a member of USA Basketball, which won the gold medal at the 2009 World University Games.
Kerry Meier, football
Meier was a two-time Biletnikoff Award Watch List honoree for his efforts at wide receiver. The Pittsburg, Kan., native played in the East-West Shrine Game and was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the fifth round Saturday. A two-time Academic All-Big 12 Second Team selection, Meier earned all-conference second team honors as a senior and honorable mention all-league as a junior. Meier established school records for receptions in a career (226), season (102) and game (16 vs. Iowa State). He ranks second in KU history in career receiving yards (2,309) and touchdown receptions (18).
Darrell Stuckey, football
Stuckey, from Kansas City, Kan., started 42 of 45 games in his Jayhawk career and his 295 career tackles are the second most by a Jayhawk defensive back in school history. He also recorded eight interceptions overall. As a senior in 2009, he led the team with 93 tackles. Stuckey earned All-Big 12 First Team honors from the Associated Press and honorable mention by the league coaches as a junior. Nationally, he was named to the AFCA Good Works Team, was a Senior CLASS Award finalist, Thorpe Award semifinalist, Lott Award quarterfinalist, Bednarik Award watch list and Nagurski Award watch list selection. After the 2009 season, Stuckey participated in the East-West Shrine game, where he made a game-high tying seven tackles. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the fourth round Saturday.
Emily Powers, women’s golf
Powers has finished in the top 10 in 14 career tournaments while at Kansas. The Quincy, Ill., native had three top-10 finishes during fall 2009 and also competed in the Duramed Futures Golf Tour qualifying event last fall. Powers won the 2008 individual title at the Marilynn Smith Sunflower Invitational and is a two-time Academic All-Big 12 selection. As a sophomore, she was named All-Big 12 and qualified for the 2008 NCAA West Golf Regional as an individual. Additionally, in 2008 Powers also was one of 26 amateurs to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open Golf Championship and has twice qualified for U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship.
Lindsey Lawrence, rowing
Lawrence is a four-year member of the Kansas First Varsity Eight. As a junior, Lawrence and her teammates set the school record in the 2,000 meters race at the South-Central Regional Regatta. Throughout the Lawrence, Kan., native’s career, the First Varsity Eight placed high in the national regional and Big 12 regattas. In 2007, Lawrence, daughter of KU radio personality David Lawrence, was the only freshman on First Varsity Eight crew as she was named team’s newcomer of the year.
Estelle Johnson, soccer
Johnson was the first Jayhawk ever drafted in the Women’s Professional Soccer League, signing a pro contract with the Philadelphia Independence following her senior season. The Fort Collins, Colo., defender was a two-time NSCAA All-Region selection, a two-time Soccer Buzz All-Region selection, a two-time All-Big 12 selection and three-time Academic All-Big 12 selection. A member of the 2009 All-Big 12 Tournament Team, Johnson holds Kansas career records in games started (82) and ranks fourth in games played (85) as a Jayhawk.
Meg Proehl, swimming & diving
Proehl earned personal best scores in the one-meter (290.10), three-meter (303.38) and platform dives (212.05) at the Big 12 Championships during her senior season. A San Diego, Calif., native, Proehl finished 23rd in the one-meter diving competition at the 2010 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships in West Lafayette, Ind. A three-time member of the Academic All-Big 12 First Team, Proehl placed in the top 10 at the Big 12 Championships in the one-meter and platform her sophomore, junior and senior seasons.
Lauren Bonds, women’s cross country, track & field
Bonds was a 2010 Indoor All-American as part of KU’s distance medley relay squad. The Hutchinson, Kan., native is the KU school record holder in the Indoor 1,000 meters (2:46.60), Mile (4:41.61), 3,000 meters (9:30.9) and distance medley relay (11:07.96). Bonds took third in the mile, seventh in the 3,000 and second as the anchor of the distance medley relay team at the 2010 Big 12 Indoor Championships. Last fall in cross country, Bonds qualified for the 2009 NCAA Championships, was a member of the NCAA All-Region Team, the All-Big 12 Team and the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team. A three-time Academic All-Big 12 First Team selection, Bonds was Kansas’ top finisher in every race she entered in 2008 and 2009. Additionally, Bonds qualified for the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the 1,500 meters.
