SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara University final-year student-athlete Eric Masch has been selected as candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. The award recognizes the attributes of senior student-athletes in four areas: community, classroom, character and competition.

From the list of 30 candidates, a national media committee will select ten finalists for the 2011 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award in early October.  Those 10 names will then be placed on the official ballot for a nationwide vote. Fan balloting will be coupled with votes from coaches and media to determine the recipient of the award.  The winners will then be announced at the NCAA Division I College Cups.

Not only is Masch one of the best forwards in the West Coast Conference, but he is also one of the league's top student-athletes. Masch holds a 3.6 cumulative GPA as a Finance major in Santa Clara University's Leavey School of Business. In both of his eligible seasons (sophomore and junior), the WCC honored Masch as a member of the conference all-academic team.

Masch will graduate following the fall quarter of his senior year, less than three and a half years into his college career. He also serves as the SCU Men's Soccer Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) representative and has been an active member for 3 years. He has twice been named an All-West Coast Conference player for his performance on the field.

ABOUT THE AWARD
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School^®, the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award honors the attributes of senior student-athletes in four areas: community, classroom, character and competition. The award program is designed exclusively for college seniors who are utilizing their complete athletic eligibility, remaining committed to their university and pursuing the many rewards a senior season can bring. The award is sponsored by Lowe's, an official Corporate Partner of the NCAA, and is managed by Premier Sports Management.

ABOUT LOWE'S 
With fiscal year 2010 sales of $48.8 billion, Lowe's Companies, Inc. is a FORTUNE^® 50 company that serves approximately 15 million customers a week at just under 1,750 home improvement stores in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Founded in 1946 and based in Mooresville, N.C., Lowe's is the second largest home improvement retailer in the world. Lowe's is an Official Corporate Partner of the NCAA.

ABOUT THE NCAA
The NCAA is a membership-led nonprofit association of colleges and universities committed to supporting academic and athletics opportunities for more than 400,000 student-athletes at more than 1,000 member colleges and universities. Each year, more than 54,000 student-athletes compete in NCAA championships in Divisions I, II and III sports.

Visit NCAA.org and NCAA.com for more details about the Association, its goals and members and corporate partnerships that help support programs for student-athletes.