March 17, 2009
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Texas A&M senior pitcher Kyle Thebeau (Corpus Christi, Texas) was one of 30 student-athletes named to the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award candidate list, it was announced Tuesday.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages those leaders to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact on their circle of influence.
These 30 student-athletes will be narrowed down to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will then be placed on the official ballot. The ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select the candidate that best exemplifies excellence in the "Four C's" of Classroom, Character, Community, and Competition.
This marks the third year for the baseball division of the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. Rice University pitcher Cole St.Clair received the title of "Nation's Premier Senior Student-Athlete" for the 2008 season and University of Alabama infielder, Emeel Salem took home the inaugural baseball award in 2007.
The 2009 candidate class has representatives from thirty different NCAA® Division I schools, each of which has outstanding accomplishments on and off the field. The award winner will be announced and recognized at Omaha's Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium during the 2009 College World Series.
Thebeau has appeared in a school-record tying 86 games over his time at A&M and has compiled 12 wins, 10 saves and 224 strikeouts (entering Tuesday's game with New Mexico). He is three-time Verizon/Texas A&M Scholar-Athlete and a two-time first-team Academic All-Big 12 selection. Off the field, Thebeau also participates in numerous community service projects, among which are Aggies CAN and the Aggie Baseball Paint-a-Thon.
The son of Martin and Suzanne Thebeau of Corpus Christ, Thebeau is on track to graduate with a degree in petroleum engineering.