OVERLAND PARK, Kans. – Cornell seniors Pierce Derkac and Ryan Hurley are among 20 NCAA men's lacrosse student-athletes who excel both on and off the field were tabbed as candidates today for the 2010 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. 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 – classroom, character, community and competition. For a complete list of candidates and their bios, click here.

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.

This year's candidate class includes 13 student-athletes on teams ranked in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse media preseason top 20 poll. In addition, nine candidates are on the preseason Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Yearbook Division I All-American list. Six candidates own cumulative grade point averages of 3.5 or better.

Lowe's, an official Corporate Partner of the NCAA, will announce the 2010 Senior CLASS Award™ winner at the NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore May 29-31.

The 20 candidates 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 finalist who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of classroom, character, community and competition.

“The lacrosse candidates represent a diverse cross-section of universities and a wide array of academic courses of study,” said Tom Lamb, Lowe's senior vice president of marketing. “But the common denominator is a passion for their sport and for finishing their careers as students and athletes at the top.”

This marks the fourth year for the men's lacrosse division of the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. Cornell University midfielder Max Seibald received the award for the 2009 season and Syracuse University attackman Mike Leveille took home the 2008 honor. In 2007, Cornell goalkeeper Matt McMonagle won the inaugural men's lacrosse award.