Wildcats LAX standout is one of ten finalists selected

Villanova men's lacrosse senior Brian Karalunas (Dewitt, N.Y.) has been chosen as one of ten finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. 

The finalists were chosen by a media committee from the list of 20 candidates announced in February.

Fans are encouraged to vote via the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award website or on the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award Facebook fan page through May 10. Fan votes will be combined with media and coaches votes to determine the winner.

Regarded as one of the nation's top longstick midfielders, Karalunas has had a stellar beginning to the 2011 season and leads the team with 43 caused turnovers and 37 ground balls. He currently leads the NCAA with 4.78 caused turnovers per game.  Karalunas was the 2010 BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year and an All-BIG EAST First Team selection, registering 55 ground balls and 55 caused turnovers in 2010.

He finished as the national leader with an average of 3.47 caused turnovers per game and was named a two-time United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association honorable mention all-America selection. Prior to the start of the 2011 season, he was selected by the Long Island Lizards as the 35th overall selection in the Major League Lacrosse Collegiate Draft. 

A star inside the classroom, Karalunas holds a 3.93 grade-point average as an Honors and Philosophy major and is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi honor society, the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and the Interdisciplinary Honors Program at Villanova. He was chosen as the 2010-2011 American Eagle Outfitters BIG EAST Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the 2010 BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence Award Winner. 

Karalunas' community service efforts include founding the Graterford Maximum Security Prison Restorative Justice Program, an inmate educational program exploring alternatives to the retributive justice system with an emphasis on forgiveness, victim-offender relations and community building. He is a Special Olympics Volunteer and a deacon with the Onondaga Valley Presbyterian Church.  

To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition. The list of finalists follows this release. 

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 students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. 

Lowe's, an official Corporate Partner of the NCAA, will announce the winner May 28 at the NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse semifinals in Baltimore.  For more information on all the finalists, visit www.seniorCLASSaward.com.