Editor's Note: The Marist Athletics Department is continuing to highlight its Senior Awards finalists. From April 20-May 15, a feature story will be presented on each finalist for Sportsperson of the Year.

Female Sportsperson Finalists: Megan Fergus (Volleyball) | Sydney Ford (Women's Rowing) | Alana Gilmer (Women's Basketball) |  Denise Grohn (Women's Cross Country/Track) | Rebekah Hand (Women's Basketball) | Samantha Mehalick (Women's Lacrosse) | Anais Mathes (Water Polo) | Ali Milam (Softball) | Juliet Nowak (Swimming & Diving) | Claire Oberdorf (Softball/Women's Basketball) | Alexa Svensson (Women's Soccer)
 
Male Sportsperson Finalists: Raislan Aiken (Swimming & Diving) | Matthew Blaszczyk (Men's Rowing) | Samad Bounthong (Men's Soccer) | Grant Dixon (Football) | Tyler Kapuscinski (Baseball) | Christopher Rivas (Men's Cross Country/Track)

POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – Since he was 12 years old, Lars Schouten knew he wanted his second home to be over 3,000 miles away from home.
 
This is not to say that he wasn't happy back in his native Buren, Netherlands. Rather, the allure of collegiate tennis in the United States was an attractive prospect to the Dutchman.
 
He used the next 12 or so years in his life to make that dream happen. Look no further than his nomination for 2020 Male Sportsperson of the Year as proof that he made it happen with superb results.
 
Marist Men's Tennis' 2019-20 co-captain earns the recognition following a standout career that has made him one of the best Red Foxes of the 2010s. Though his impressive career with 98 wins was cruelly cut short, he still made enough of an impact on his teammates, the coaching staffs, the program, and the school.
"Lars was the leader of the pack," said Director of Tennis Gary Sussman. "(He was) our number one singles player who had the ultimate respect of his teammates as well as his opponents, both in the MAAC and out of conference. Lars' speed, skill and stamina will be forever stamped into the lexicon of Red Fox tennis."
 

THE JOURNEY BEGINS

Schouten excelled early on in tennis in the Netherlands. Ranked as one of the top ten juniors, he gained ITF experience and had a UTR of +12.5 ahead of college. His desire to move to the U.S. fueled those marks as he went through the recruiting process.
 
"I actually wanted to come to the U.S. at quite a young age, when I was around 12 years old I would say," mentioned Schouten. "I had someone from my tennis academy tell me about playing college tennis, and it immediately got hooked. I decided to do a bilingual high school education where half of my classes were in English to get myself ready for the language barrier."
 
As is typical across other sports, international recruiting is a different challenge for American-based institutions and international prospective student-athletes. Communication is primarily done electronically. Film, if available, helps coaches see footage of the athlete that they will not see attending a practice, game, or match. Athletes will send out their grades, results, and other required paperwork to interested coaches as well.  
 
With this process, athletes can either have a wide variety of interested programs, or even very little exposure. Schouten said he received responses from a number of coaches. However, Marist stood out with regards to the team dynamic and the college's amenities.
 
"(I) felt that Marist was the best option, as their tennis team was mostly made up of international student-athletes, performed well, the academics are good, and the school was close to New York City."
 

EARLY CHALLENGES

Inevitably, the culture shock of moving 3,622 miles from home delivers numerous obstacles, and Schouten was not immune to this early on.
 
He mentioned team chemistry was one of the first things that came easy to him. It helped that other Red Foxes, who hailed from places like Austria, Slovenia, and Switzerland, went through those adjustments he now tackled. Even so, collegiate life is a different experience for every student-athlete.
 
"Everything was different than I was used to: tennis practice, classes, living, climate, you name it," said Schouten. "Luckily, my teammates definitely helped me out with this, as most of them were international and they knew what I was going through. I called my family over the phone, too, which was comforting." Schouten, who majors in Applied Mathematics, also credited the math department for helping him during this time.
 
As fall turned to winter and then to spring, Schouten developed a rhythm in time management and student-athlete balance, and it began to translate on the tennis court. Recruited under former head coach Tim Smith to be "a top-three player", he went a perfect 4-0 in MAAC singles matches, and compiled a 9-7 record in his freshman campaign. He boosted that number to 26 wins in his sophomore campaign, going 18-7 in singles from primarily the fourth flight, and 8-2 across doubles.  

TURNING INTO A LEADER

With collegiate life's novelty worn off by his junior year, Schouten had to fill a void for the Red Foxes: six of the team's 12 athletes graduated in 2018, among which were the top three players. Not only did that mean Marist needed top-level performers, but veteran leaders to guide the squad.
 
Schouten rose to the occasion, and credited classmate Christopher Gladden and 2018-19 captain Max Darrington for helping to fill the gap. In that season, the Red Foxes clinched the second seed in the MAAC Championships with a 5-1 conference record, and totaled 11 dual match victories.
 
Individually, the Dutchman played his part on the result. Eleven of his 23 singles wins that season came in the top flight. He alternated between the second and third positions in doubles, and racked up 15 wins in that category with Darrington and Jack Sequerth. Schouten went a combined 11-1 in MAAC play, and was named to the All-MAAC Second Team No. 1 Singles and No. 3 Doubles while adding three MAAC Player of the Week accolades to his resume.

Lars Schouten is all over the All-MAAC Second Team as he gets the nod for the No. 1 Singles! pic.twitter.com/29gJbqwUF8

— Marist Tennis (@MaristTennis) April 26, 2019

SUPERB AS A SENIOR

 
With Darrington graduating in spring of 2019, it was Schouten's and Gladden's turn to take the captain's mantle. With Gladden studying abroad in the Fall 2019 semester, Schouten was the lone senior playing matches at that time. He enjoyed strong results that semester, winning the "A" brackets of the Quinnipiac Invitational (his second-straight title in the tournament) and the Fordham Four-In-The-Fall.
 
Gladden returned in the spring, and Schouten and company had the Foxes firing on all cylinders in 2020. Marist was rolling on a five-match winning streak from February into March, a streak Schouten credits to the team's "experience". The run began with one of Schouten's standout performances in his Red Fox career.
 
Both the men's and women's tennis teams traveled to Colgate on February 8. Schouten and the Foxes had faced the Raiders in three consecutive seasons – all wins. However, Colgate proved a difficult adversary, trading points with Marist to the point where the score knotted up at 3-3.
 
Schouten and his opponent, previous Patriot League Player of the Week Scott Bickel, were the only two remaining. In a match that lasted three hours, Schouten wore down Bickel to win in three sets, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to clinch the victory. After an emphatic scream and double fist pump with his left arm, Schouten's teammates swarmed him on the court.
 
"This was the first time (clinching a match win) in my career, and it was the final point to be given out at a score of 3-3. With my whole team watching and supporting me, I got them the victory, which was one of my favorite moments in my career at Marist as an athlete."

View this post on Instagram

Senior Captain @lars_schouten1 leads the men in a gutsy 4-3 road win against Colgate

A post shared by Marist College Tennis (@maristtennis) on Feb 9, 2020 at 10:17am PST

 

MEMORIES MADE

The sudden end of Schouten's senior season due to the COVID-19 outbreak didn't spare heartbreak. It meant he was unable to push for a MAAC Championship, and he fell two wins shy of 100 for his entire career. However, that memory won't stick in his mind when reflecting on his time as a Red Fox student-athlete.
 
"What I am going to remember most of my time at Marist are my teammates and all the friends I have made these last four years. It's indescribable how much they mean to me and how much they have helped me on this journey at Marist."
 
He wanted a life as a collegiate tennis player in the United States since he was 12. He received a second home, a second family, and a treasure trove of memories in the process. He will certainly accept and appreciate those additional benefits.

View this post on Instagram

Although we had to pack up early this season, we wanted to take a moment to salute our No. 1 men's singles player, Lars Schouten, who was on his way to a truly memorable senior campaign. The Flying Dutchman had compiled 15 singles wins and 10 doubles victories over the course of tournaments and dual matches. Included in this total were capturing both the Quinnipiac (for the second time) and Fordham Invites, and dual match wins over Rider, Colgate, LaSalle, Lafayette and UConn. These victories gave Lars career totals of 63 singles wins and 32 doubles wins over the past three-plus years. His combination of speed, skill and stamina will be forever ingrained into the lexicon of Marist Tennis.

A post shared by Marist College Tennis (@maristtennis) on Mar 16, 2020 at 3:54pm PDT