Chris
Wojcik Honored
as Harvard's Top Male Athlete
June 5, 1996
CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Basketball captain and All-Ivy honoree Elizabeth Proudfit (Washington, PA/Washington HS) received the Radcliffe College Alumnae Association Award, honoring her as Harvard-Radcliffe's top female senior athlete, while two-sport captain Chris Wojcik (Westfield, NJ/Westfield HS) received the William J. Bingham Award as the top male athlete in Harvard's senior class.
The awards were presented at the 30th annual Senior Letterwinners' Banquet, held this evening, Wednesday, June 5, at Harvard's Bright Hockey Center. In attendance at the event were more than 500 members of the Harvard-Radcliffe community.
In addition to Proudfit and Wojcik, six other students were acknowledged for their achievements. Accomplished swimmer Caroline Miller (Baltimore, MD/Severna Park HS) and field hockey standout Maureen O'Brien (Lake Forest, IL/Lake Forest HS) were co-recipients of the Harvard-Radcliffe Women's Athletic Prize as top female scholar-athletes. Receiving the Mary G. Paget Prize for outstanding contributions to women's athletics was field hockey captain and lacrosse All-American Carrie Shumway (Laconia, NH/Laconia HS). The John P. Reardon '60 Award, given to Harvard's top male scholar-athlete, was awarded to men's hockey standout Kirk Nielsen (Grand Rapids, MN/Grand Rapids HS). Squash captain Tal Ben-Shachar (Ramat-Gan, Israel) received the Francis H. Burr '09 Scholarship awarded to the senior "who combines as nearly as possible Burr's remarkable qualities of character, leadership, scholarship, and athletic ability." Thaddeus Kousser (Altadena, CA/John Moir), a member of the water polo team, was awarded the John P. Fadden Award for overcoming physical adversity to make a contribution to his team. And football manager Monica Antezana (Navato, CA/Muskogee HS) was presented the Carroll F. Getchel Award as manager of the year.
Basketball co-captain Elizabeth Proudfit was a First Team All-Ivy selection who led Harvard to its first-ever NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament berth and its fourth-ever Ivy League title this past season. She became just the ninth Crimson player to reach the 1,000 career-point mark, and earned Academic All-Ivy honors as well as All-Tournament honors at the Harvard Invitational and the Connecticut/Courant Classic. Proudfit was the Crimson's second-leading scorer, averaging 11.2 points per game.
Chris Wojcik, Harvard's first two-sport male captain in over a decade, was a standout in both soccer and lacrosse. An Honorable Mention All-American in lacrosse, he led the squad to its first NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse berth since 1990 and to its best finish in six years, 12-3 overall and 5-1 Ivy League. Wojcik, who was the third leading scorer with 47 points (33g, 14a), was voted First Team All-New England and All-Ivy, and was chosen to play in the North-South Senior All-Star lacrosse game on June 8 at Hofstra University. He finished his career with 134 points (89 goals, 45 assists), making him fifteenth among all-time leading scorers. On the soccer field, Wojcik scored three goals and notched an assist this year. Last fall, he scored the game-winning goal in a 3-2 overtime victory versus Pennsylvania, and as a junior he helped the Crimson to an NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament berth.
One of the finest competitors on the Crimson's national-caliber swimming and diving team, Caroline Miller holds the deaf world record in the 100 butterfly. This year, she was selected Second Team All-Ivy in the 200 and 400 Freestyle Relays and was Harvard's top point-getter at the Eastern Championships. Miller is a four year letterwinner, and won the 100 and 200 fly at the 1995 Eastern Championships. An environmental sciences and public policy major, she maintained a 3.293 grade-point average. Miller was also selected to receive a Fulbright Fellowship.
Maureen O'Brien, one of the fastest players on Harvard's field hockey team, she was steady at the midfield position, netting one goal. O'Brien could be relied on to beat opponents to the ball and control it for the forwards every time she stepped on the field. She also played the crucial fly position on defensive corners, marking the opposing team's shooter. O'Brien, a biochemistry concentrator, maintained a 3.80 grade-point average and will attend Harvard University's Medical School in the fall.
A dominant force for the Crimson, Carrie Shumway could often take over a lacrosse or field hockey game. This spring, she helped the lacrosse team to a seven-game win streak that turned around a 1-5 record and earned the Crimson a bid to the ECAC Tournament. Shumway, a defenseman, demonstrated the ability to get involved in the offense, registering 17 goals and five assists for 22 points, fourth on the team. Her 40 groundballs were third on the squad, and her 20 draw controls placed second. The Crimson ended the season with an 8-6 record overall and 3-3 in the Ivy League, to earn third place. Harvard was ranked 12th in the country and reached the championship of the ECAC Tournament, before falling to Lehigh, 11-10. As a midfielder on the field hockey team, she was a unanimous First Team All-Ivy selection for the second consecutive season and was also selected as a Boston Four All-Star. Shumway was Harvard's third-leading scorer with 12 points on two goals and a career-high eight assists. In her four years, Shumway netted 11 goals and recorded 15 assists for 37 points.
Kirk Nielsen, a four-year letterwinner on the hockey team, earned Third Team GTE Academic All-America honors. He was among 45 Division I male at-large honorees nationwide: students cited for excelling in academics and in fall or winter athletics (in sports other than football or basketball). Fifteen athletes were named to each of the three teams. A biology major, Nielsen maintained a 3.68 grade-point average. Signed as a free agent by the Boston Bruins, he plans to attend medical school following the conclusion of his hockey career. Nielsen finished second in scoring for the ECAC Tournament runner-up Crimson. He tallied 12 goals and 16 assists for 28 points.
Tal Ben-Shachar is a three-time All-American for the Harvard squash team. He is also a two-time Ivy League Player of the Year and four-time First Team All-Ivy. Ben-Shachar was a National Champion his junior year and the runner-up for the title this year. This past winter, he led the Crimson to its sixth straight National Team title as well as its sixth-straight Ivy League championship.
Thaddeus Kousser, a water polo player, overcame being struck by a car while cycling to contribute tremendously to his team and school. The accident occurred the summer before his sophomore year at Harvard, and through extensive rehabilitation he was able to return to the team for his junior season. In addition to his water polo performance, Thad maintains a 3.88 grade-point average as a government concentrator. His coach, Don Benson, says Thad, "has demonstrated himself to be one of the most inspiring persons I have encountered."
The final award was presented to Monica Antezana, a manager for the football team. Antezana became a manager as a freshman and rose through the ranks until she was the Head Undergraduate Manager of Football in 1995.