May 5, 2008

Amherst, Mass. - University of Massachusetts senior athletes were honored at a dinner at the Campus Center on Monday night with each receiving a ring commemorating their contributions to UMass Athletics. Cross country and track star Christina Derosa and soccer's Zack Simmons were named the UMass Athletes of the Year. Simmons and softball's Lauren Proctor won the Scholar-Athlete awards. Football's J.J. Moore was selected the most inspirational athlete.

Simmons maintained a 3.9 GPA in history and economics. He was named district Academic All-America by ESPN the Magazine and was the A-10's scholar-athlete of the year for soccer. He set UMass records for career shutouts, wins as a goalie, and a season goals against average. He was named the A-10's Most outstanding performer in leading UMass to the championship. He went on to be named Third Team All-America and Umbro National Player of the Year, as the Minutemen went to the College Cup - Soccer's equivalent of the Final Four.

DeRosa won the A-10 Cross Country Championship and was named the sports Scholar-Athlete. She holds the school record for the 5,000 indoors and in the 10,000 meters outdoors, and holds the second fastest time in the 3,000 indoor and 5,000 outdoor. She just won the A-10 Championship for the 10,000, setting the conference record.

Proctor has been a starter in leftfield for the softball team for the last four years. She has hit over .300 every season and has been a part of four regular season A-10 titles...and hopefully after this weekend four A-10 Tournament titles and NCAA Tournament appearances. She has a double major of Journalism and Spanish and sports a 3.7 grade point average and this past summer studied in Oxford. She is a finalist for the Lowe's Senior Class Award.

Moore was named most inspirational, after having a tough life as a youth, growing up in St. Petersburg, Florida, where he lost both of his parents before high school. He went on to have a spectacular football career at UMass, finishing second on the all-time reception list with 185 and second in career yards with 2,423. His teammates thought enough of him to elect him team captain. He helped lead UMass to its second consecutive league title and NCAA Tournament appearance.