Lauren Fowlkes helped lead the Irish to their third title in program history in 2010.

Lauren Fowlkes Named Recipient of 2010-11 BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence Award

June 23, 2011

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Three Notre Dame student-athletes, basketball player Tim Abromaitis (Unionville, Conn.), men’s soccer player Jeb Brevosky (Lakewood, Colo.) and women’s soccer standout Lauren Fowlkes (Lee’s Summit, Mo.) were among 24 BIG EAST student-athletes selected as the recipients of the 2010-11 BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence Awards.

Abromaitis’ selection marks the second consecutive year in which he has earned the honor as Notre Dame finished with the second-most honorees, behind Louisville’s five recipients.

First-time recipients, Brevosky and Fowlkes, both were named recipients of Notre Dame’s highest honor — the Byron V. Kanaley Award.

The Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence Awards are given to one student-athlete in each BIG EAST sport based on academic credentials, athletic accolades or performances and volunteer service to the community. Student-athletes who have attained junior academic standing and a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.00 are eligible. The winners are chosen by the BIG EAST Faculty Athletics Representative Council.

Abromaitis, the BIG EAST Scholar Athlete of the Year in both 2010 and 2011 and a two-time Capital One Academic All-American honoree, averaged double figures for the second consecutive season as he finished as the team’s second-leading scorer with a 15.4 scoring average. He also was the team’s second-leading rebounder, grabbing a career-best 6.1 boards per game.

One of Notre Dame’s four captains, he graduated from Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business with a degree in finance in May 2010 and his MBA last month after being enrolled in an intensified one-year MBA program during the 2010-11 school. He became the third player in BIG EAST history to earn the Conference’s Scholar Athlete of the Year in back-to-back seasons.

Abromaitis has scored in double figures in 57 games during his Irish career and reached the 20-plus point mark on 21 occasions. He scored a season-high 30 points in Notre Dame’s win over Villanova that marked the third 30-plus point outing of his career and became the 51st player in school history to reach the 1,000-point mark for his career. He was a third team all-BIG EAST selection in’11 and was named MVP of the 2010 Old Spice Classic as he led his team to the tournament crown.

Brovsky started all 20 matches for the Irish during the 2010 season and tallied nine points on four goals and an assist. The midfielder was named to the all-BIG EAST first team and to the BIG EAST All-Championship team. The Vancouver Whitecaps FC selected Brovsky with the first pick in the second round (19th overall selection) during the2011 Major League Soccer SuperDraft.

For his career, Brovsky played in 87 games, including 60 starts, and registered 42 points on 15 goals and 12 assists. The three-time all-BIG EAST honoree only missed one contest during his career. Brovsky helped Notre Dame to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including a trip to the quarterfinals in 2007. He also was instrumental in the Fighting Irish winning the BIG EAST Blue Division title in 2007 and 2008.

Brovsky was named a 2010 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Scholar All-American. He earned a degree in management from Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business in December. Brovsky finished with a 3.472 cumulative grade point average. He launded his own non-profit organization, Peace Pandemic, to combat poverty, hatred, violence and hunger both nationally and internationally. Brovsky also helped engineer the Lifeworks Dream Team. He graduated from Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business with a degree in management.

A member of the 2010 national championship women’s soccer team, Fowlkes capped off a stellar career that saw her spend time at all three field positions for Notre Dame. A two-time NSCAA All-American and Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-American, Fowlkes went on to earn an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship and the BIG EAST Institutional Scholar-Athlete Award, as she wound up her academic career as a science-business major in Notre Dame’s College of Science, where she sported a 3.619 cumulative grade-point average (GPA).

On the pitch, Fowlkes started all 25 matches in 2010, ranking fourth on the team in scoring with four goals and 13 points. She also was third on the squad with five assists, piling up the majority of offensive production during the NCAA Championship, when she tallied three goals and three assists (nine points). Also a two-time all-BIG EAST selection, including the 2009 BIG EAST Co-Offensive Player of the Year, Fowlkes did some of her best work on the Fighting Irish back line as a central defender.

Fowlkes finished her career with 17 goals and 10 assists (44 points) in 95 career matches, starting 82 times. She also was a finalist for the 2010 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award and remains a vital contributor to the United States youth national team programs, having played for her country at both the U-20 and U-23 levels, and helping Team USA strike gold at the 2008 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Chile. In January, Fowlkes was selected in the first round (fifth overall pick, tying the highest selection ever by a Notre Dame player) of the 2011 Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) College Draft by the Philadelphia Independence, for whom she now plays.

For the complete 2010-11 BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence Awards listing, visit www.bigeast.org.