BATON ROUGE — Senior Ashleigh Clare-Kearney was honored as a nominee for the prestigious 2008-09 Honda Sports Award for gymnastics, it was announced on Saturday.
Clare-Kearney’s selection marks the second time an LSU gymnast has been nominated for the award, joining Rachelle Frug? who received the honor in 1989-90.
Clare-Kearney joins three other gymnasts as nominees for the award as senior Courtney Kupets from Georgia, senior Kristina Baskett of Utah and senior Jessica Lopez of Denver were also selected. Kupets won the award in 2006-07.
The nominees were selected by the coaches in the National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches/Women (NACGC/W).
American Honda will donate $1,000 to the women’s athletic fund at the institution of each of the four finalists for the award, and the winner’s institution will receive $5,000.
The winner of the award will be determined by a vote from all the NCAA senior woman administrators, and the winner of the award will become a candidate for the Honda-Broderick Cup which is awarded annually to the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year.
Clare-Kearney will wrap up her career at LSU Saturday at 6 p.m. CDT as she competes in the individual event finals with an opportunity to win a national title on vault, bars and floor.