OVERLAND PARK, Kansas –
Peyton Smith of the Marist men's lacrosse team has been selected as a candidate for the Senior CLASS Award, it was announced Friday afternoon. Smith, who is one of the senior leaders on this year's lacrosse team, is among 20 candidates eligible for the award.
Smith is off to a fantastic start already this season, as evident by him being named MAAC Co-Defensive Player of the Week for the first week of the season. He helped lead the team to a victory over Binghamton, going 15-18 on face-offs and scooping up five ground balls. He also played a major role in the Red Foxes win over #9/7 Army, which was the highest ranked team the Marist lacrosse program has ever defeated. He went 17-28 on the day in face offs, and grabbed 10 ground balls for the second straight game.
Smith was named named MAAC Preseason Co-Player of the Year before the start of the season, and is looking to continue building off what was his finest season as a Red Fox in 2019. Playing in all 17 games as the primary face-off specialist, Smith finished the season with a .630 face-off win percentage, raking 11th in the entire NCAA. He won 247 total face-offs on the season, and has now won 291 for his career. He even added 115 ground balls, four caused turnovers, and his first career goal in 2019. Smith was named MAAC Face-Off Specialist of the Year, and made the All-MAAC First Team. He was also a three-time MAAC Defensive Player of the Week and one-time member of the USILA Team of the Week.
Smith, a senior majoring in Communication with a minor in Information Systems, has been named to the All-MAAC Academic Team each of the past two seasons. During his time at Marist, Smith has participated in many community service initiatives such as the Friends of Jaclyn Walk, Morgan's Mile, Tunnel to Towers Run, Special Olympics, Grace Smith House Pumpkin Parade, and many more.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be an NCAA Division I senior with achievements in community, classroom, character, and competition. CLASS is an acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School.
The 20 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists later in the season, 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 candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.
The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced in conjunction with the 2020 NCAA Men's Lacrosse National Championship in May.
For more information on all the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.
