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Three C-USA Soccer Players Selected as Candidates for Senior CLASS Award
Senior trio achieves excellence in community, classroom, character and competition.

	Mallory Baum

Sept. 18, 2012

SMU senior midfielder Mallory Baum, UCF senior forward Tishia Jewell and FIU senior Anthony Hobbs have been named among 30 male and 30 female candidates for the Senior CLASS Award.

To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be a senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition.

From the list of 30 candidates, a national media committee will select 10 finalists in early October. Those 10 names will then be placed on the official ballot for a nationwide vote. Fan balloting will be coupled with votes from coaches and media to determine the recipient of the award. Memphis defender Lizzy Simonin was the recipient of the 2011 Senior CLASS Award. UCF goalkeeper Aline Reis and SMU's Adam Still were finalists last season.

Baum, a native of Keller, Texas, was named to the Second Team NSCAA All-Central and First Team All-Conference USA in 2011, and was named to the Preseason First Team All-C-USA team in August. She was also a member of the C-USA All-Freshman team in 2009. Baum scored her first goal of the 2012 season on Sunday in SMU's 3-0 win over Oklahoma.

In the classroom, Baum is studying electrical engineering with biomedical specialization and math as a double major. She has the intentions of going to dental school upon graduation from SMU. Her current cumulative GPA is a 3.7. She has also put a lot effort into helping the local community. Baum volunteered with Tarrant Area Food Bank, where she packed grocery bags of food and helped organize a Thanksgiving feast, parties and more for less fortunate families. She also assisted with Catholic Charities of Fort Worth, Texas, playing and bonding with children who had been removed from unhealthy family situations. Baum also helped with Mayfest, Inc, a festival in Fort Worth created as a nonprofit corporation with a purpose to raise funds for community nonprofit programs and for continued improvement and awareness of the Trinity River and surrounding parks through a combination of volunteerism and community resources.

Jewell is as accomplished on the field as she is in the classroom. A native of Satellite Beach, Fla., she was selected as a two-time preseason All-American this year, received NSCAA All-American laurels in 2011. She is a two-time All-Central Region selection and was awarded the honor of Soccer America MVP. Jewell has been a force in C-USA as a two-time first team honoree and the 2010 Offensive Player of the Year. She appears on UCF's all-time top-10 list for assists - currently at No. 4 - and was ranked among the top 25 nationally for assists in 2011.

She was also recognized as an All-American in the classroom in 2011 by the NSCAA. Jewell has always put exceptional effort into her studies as she earned her associate's degree with honors prior to enrolling at UCF in 2009. She graduated with her bachelor's degree in psychology in spring 2011 and began pursuing her master's degree in fall 2011. Since her graduate work began, she has carried a GPA of 3.75. She was named UCF's Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2011-12.

When she has time to spare, Jewell has volunteered countless hours at numerous local organizations including: The Haven for Children (for abused and neglected youth); Szuba Guardian Care Solutions, Inc.; Women's Center in Brevard; and Relay for Life. She has also served as the lead volunteer at the Creative School for Children and has worked as a volunteer coach at the Central Florida Kraze soccer fields.

Hobbs has been a leader ever since he stepped foot on the FIU campus. As a defender, Hobbs has been the FIU Defensive and Team MVP each of his three seasons at FIU. He is also a fixture on the All-Conference USA team, earning third-team honors his freshman year while being named to the all-freshman team, second-team honors his sophomore year and first-team honors his junior year. Most recently, Hobbs participated in the U-20 World Cup as part of the New Zealand squad and was in camp with the U-23 national team and was on the short list to make the squad for the 2012 London Olympic Games. While training with his country, Hobbs was a member of the United Soccer League's Portland Timbers U-23s team in the Professional Development League.

For the past three years, Hobbs has maintained a 3.77 GPA while making the Dean's List every semester. He is a three-time member of the Conference USA Commissioner's Honor Roll and was recently honored as a part of the C-USA All-Academic Team. These academic achievements are extremely impressive given his busy schedule flying from Miami to New Zealand while competing for his country's U-20 national team.

Hobbs has always found time between competing at FIU and for his home country of New Zealand to lend a hand in the Miami community. He is an active supporter of the Down Syndrome Association Soccer Clinic, which he and his teammates started to work with kids and provide free soccer clinics to children with Down syndrome. He also lends his time and teaches kids his soccer talents at the Doral Soccer Clinic. Hobbs also volunteers at the Big Brother, Big Sister Holiday Celebration where he helped fundraise money to collect school supplies and holiday gifts for children on a waiting list to be matched with a mentor. At the ING Miami Marathon, Hobbs and his teammates volunteered in the early hours of the morning at the gear check-in tent and are responsible for holding and returning the personal belongings of race participants. This shows the level of trust and responsibility the university and the community has in Hobbs and his teammates. He volunteered his time at the Miami Beach Half Marathon where he lined the raceway to hand out water and energy bars to the participating racers. Hobbs is also a participant in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life where he and his teammates annually gather to raise money for cancer research.