Athletes Shine on the Field, Mat
After leading Northwestern with 85 goals and breaking Northwestern's career goal record, Selena Lasota received Inside Lacrosse First Team All-American honors and is a finalist for the 2019 Honda Sports Award.
The senior attacker, an academic All Big-Ten selection, was also first in the Big Ten in goals and points and was named the unanimous Big Ten Attacker of the year. Lasota helped the Wildcats advance to the NCAA semifinals for the first time since 2014.
The Honda Sport Award has been presented annually by the CWSA for the past 43 years to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA- sanctioned sports and signifies "the best of the best in collegiate athletics. Nominees are chosen by a panel of coaches representing the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association.
Lasota, a member of the Katzie First Nation people on the West Coast of Vancouver Island, has also been named an Inside Lacrosse first-team All-American, IWLCA first-team All-Region for the Midwest/West, a Tewaaraton finalist and was the unanimous Big Ten Attacker of the year. The winner of the sport award will become a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the prestigious 2019 Honda Cup which will be presented on a live telecast on CBS Sports Network on Monday, June 24, 2019, in downtown Los, Angeles. The winner of the Honda Sports Award will be presented with the honor during on-campus presentation later this month.
Other SESP athletic highlights include:
- Sara Szynal received the Elite 90 award for the 2019 NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship, which honors those who reach the national championship level in their sport while also achieving the highest academic standard. The social policy major currently carries a 3.99 GPA through her junior season.
- Following a dominant season on the mat, rising junior Sebastian Rivera was honored as Northwestern's Male Athlete of the Year at the annual NESPYs, Northwestern sports awards ceremony with all of the student-athletes. Rivera was undefeated in the 125 lbs weight class during the regular-season. Ranked No. 1 in the nation for most of the season, Rivera earned his second consecutive All-America honor at the NCAA Championships in Pittsburgh. The New Jersey native was selected from a distinguished group of finalists that included football's Clayton Thorson, golf's Ryan Lumsden, and basketball's Vic Law. As Northwestern's winner, Rivera is now one of 14 finalists for the Big Ten Male Athlete of the Year award.
- Running back Isiah Bowser of the Wildcat football team was named Male Freshman of the Year and women’s fencing, which finished sixth in the nation, was voted Team of the Year in the Daily Northwestern’s 2018-19 Northwestern Sports Year in Review. SESP fencers include Alexandra Banin, Adelle Berdichevsky, Shirley Luong, Sofia Simontov, Abigail Swallow, and Abigail Tartell.