Lehigh University Athletics
Worley Named Candidate for Senior CLASS Award
10/7/2016 3:35:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Men's and Women's Soccer Candidates Announced for the 2016 Senior CLASS Award
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh men's soccer senior Justin Worley has been selected as a candidate for the 2016 Senior CLASS Award in collegiate soccer as the full list of candidates were announced on Friday. Of the 30 men's candidates, Worley is just one of two student-athletes to be selected from the Patriot League.
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. 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.
Worley is stellar in the classroom, owning a 3.68 cumulative GPA as a Psychology major and has garnered impressive experience in academic realms. He has been a research assistant since 2015, conducting research in the Health and Behavior Lab concerning substance abuse and the efficacy of interventions aimed at reducing use and their associated risks. Worley is currently coordinating with Dr. Lucy Napper, conducting a Senior Honors Thesis researching influential factors that affect individuals' perceptions, intentions to use and attitudes towards marijuana.
Worley was also a key contributor to the Sports and Evolution Lab over the summer as a Research Fellow at Lehigh University. He coordinated with history professor John Pettegrew and a six-member lab team to study the physical capacity and performance in a variety of sports, as well as how they have changed over long periods of time. Worley focused on researching creating a metric that gives a predictive assessment of successful team chemistry.
A senior captain and member of the leadership council, Worley's teammates look up to him. As part of the leadership council, he participates in weekly group meetings to discuss team status.
Worley is also part of the Lehigh Athletics Leadership Academy. He has taken part in the P.R.I.D.E. program, which stands for Personal Responsibility in Determining Excellence. He attended weekly workshops learning how to consistently navigate college athletically, academically and socially. He also took part in the Emerging Leaders cohort where he was trained to lead by example, develop relationships with teammates and gain the credibility to lead vocally in order to maximize individual and team performance. Worley has taken part in Leadership Legacies as well, an extended program in the application of emotionally intelligent leadership and the navigation of team leadership challenges in partnership with their coaches.
The senior is also a member of Lehigh's Student-Athlete Council, a group of student-athlete leaders representing a diverse constituency, voluntarily committed to enhancing the student-athlete experience through leadership, service and community.
Worley and Lehigh student-athletes are heavily involved in the community. Every year, the Mountain Hawks head to Donegan Elementary School for the Reading Rocks program. The whole team spends approximately one hour with the students, helping them read before getting to know the youngsters through playing games and other activities. Lehigh, along with every Lehigh Athletics team, take part in Adopt-A-Family where the Mountain Hawks provided a holiday for a local underprivileged family. The process included shopping for gifts, wrapping them and delivering them in early December.
On the field, Worley has been a standout performer. Entering his senior year, he is a two-time All-Patriot League honoree, earning second team laurels in 2014 and first team honors in 2015. He has started all 69 games he has appeared in during his career. Worley was named to the Patriot League All-Tournament Team last season, helping lead the Mountain Hawks to the Patriot League Championship, and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Worley was a third team All-Northeast Region honoree in 2015.
Worley received the Coaches Award his sophomore year for noteworthy contributions to the team in areas of attitude, improvement and leadership. He has anchored a strong Lehigh defense over his career, allowing just 1.09 goals per game in 2015 and 1.27 this season. Worley has helped the Mountain Hawks improve every season, from 2-14-1 as a freshman to 10-8-1 and a Patriot League Tournament berth as a sophomore, then 13-6-1 and league championship as a junior.
Each of the two candidate classes 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 candidate and one female candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition. ?
The Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced during the 2016 NCAA Men's and Women's College Cup® championships in December.
Players Mentioned
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