Wake Forest Athletics
Hayes, Harkes Named Senior CLASS Award Candidates
10/7/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
By Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeMSoccer)
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Senior captains Jacori Hayes and Ian Harkes of the Wake Forest men's soccer team have each been included on the list of 30 candidates eligible for the 2016 Senior CLASS award, the organization announced Friday afternoon.
Hayes, a Physics major with a 3.758 grade point average that is set to graduate in just three and a half years, leads Wake Forest with three goals thus far this season while starting all 11 games as the Deacs have jumped out to an 8-2-1 record to open the season. Harkes, a Business major with a GPA of 3.307, has controlled Wake Forest's game from central midfield and helped the Demon Deacons break program records earlier this season with seven shutouts in a row and a scoreless minutes streak of 855:46. He has also scored a goal and is tied for first on the team with two assists thus far.
Both players have previously been honored for both academic and athletic excellence. Hayes picked up CoSIDA Academic All-District, NSCAA Scholar All-Region and All-ACC Academic Team honors last season while being named to the NSCAA All-South Second Team, the ACC Championship All-Tournament Team and the All-ACC First Team. Harkes, like Hayes, was named to the All-ACC Academic Team, ACC Championship All-Tournament Team, NSCAA All-South Region Second Team and All-ACC First Team. Both players have been named to the ACC All-Academic Team each of their first three seasons at Wake Forest.
Hayes and Harkes are the first players selected from Wake Forest as candidates for the award since Akira Fitzgerald in 2010. In 2008, Sam Cronin won the Senior CLASS award. Zack Schilawski was named a finalist in 2009 and Julian Valentin a finalist in 2007. Wake Forest is one of three schools nationally to have more than one player selected as a candidate for the award. Ohio State's Danny Jensen and Tyler Kidwell were selected while Utah Valley's Skyler Milne and Alex Neff were also picked as candidates. Hayes and Harkes represent two of the five ACC players picked for the award (Louisville's Daniel Johnson, Syracuse's Oyvind Alseth and Virginia's Paddy Foss).
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. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the 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.
The list will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one male and one female candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition. The Senior CLASS award winner will be announced during the 2016 College Cup in December.
Wake Forest returns to action Saturday night, Oct. 8, on the road against No. 1 Notre Dame. First kick is set for 7 p.m. in South Bend, Ind., and will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra. Both teams have allowed just four goals thus far this season while combining to post a record of 17-3-1.
