Feb. 27, 2006

AMHERST, Mass. - Junior skier Rush Hawkins (Shelburne, Mass.) and senior lacrosse attacker Sean Morris (Marshfield, Mass.) and have been named the UMass/Dinn Bros. Co-Athletes of the Week after dominating performances for the week ending February 26th. Hawkins won both the slalom and the giant slalom at the ECSC Championships on February 25th and 26th to help qualify the Minutemen for the USCSA Nationals next week and place the team in a tie for first overall for the weekend. Morris tied his career best eight points with three goals and five assists in the men's lacrosse team's 11-7 win over No.19 Hofstra at Garber Field on Sunday.

Hawkins and Morris will be honored this Wednesday, Mar. 1 at the UMass Sports Luncheon which will be held in the Student Union Auditorium starting at Noon. Fall Academic Awards (given to each sport's athlete with the highest GPA this fall) will be presented and the guest speaker will be women's basketball coach Marnie Dacko. The Sports Luncheon runs from Noon to 1:00 p.m. with a salad-to-dessert buffet for just $7.00. Call 413-545-4290 to join us.

Last year, Hawkins also swept the ECSC Championships. Hawkins then went on to sweep the USCSA National Championships the following week. Hawkins is now looking forward to defending his national championship next week as both the men's and women's ski teams will head to Sugarloaf, Maine for the USCSA National Championships beginning Monday, March 6.

Morris reminded everyone why he was named a Preseason First Team All-American in the men's lacrosse season opener. Last year he was a finalist for the Tewaararton Trophy as the sport's top player, and he was named the ECAC Offensive Player of the Year, New England Player of the Year, 2005 Second Team USILA Second Team All-American.