Princeton University Athletics
Beaver, Lutz, Matson, Shaner Share Von Kienbusch Award
June 01, 2001 | General
June 1, 2001
Four women who dominated five sports between them share the 2001 C. Otto von Kienbusch Award.
The C. Otto Von Kienbusch Award, presented in memory of a member of the Class of 1906, goes annually to "a senior woman of high scholastic rank who has demonstrated a general proficiency in athletics and the qualities of a true sportswoman."
The four winners for 2001 are (alphabetically):
Julia Beaver (molecular biology, Brooklyn, N.Y.) -- Arguably the greatest women's squash player in the history of the sport, Beaver won three individual national championships and led her team to two team national championships. She began her career as the first woman in any sport in league history to be named Ivy League Rookie of the Year and Ivy League Player of the Year in the same season, and she went on to win four Ivy Player of the Year awards. She was also a four-time first-team All-America and three-time Academic All-Ivy selection. As a senior, she also played on the women's lacrosse, serving as the backup goalie for a team that won the Ivy League championship and advanced to the NCAA tournament's Final Four.
Erin Lutz (psychology, Lawrenceville, N.J.) -- A two-time All-America diver, Lutz competed at the NCAA championships all four years at Princeton. She was a four-time first-team All-Ivy selection in the three-meter springboard, and she holds all Princeton three-meter records. She was the Ivy League's three-meter champion each of her four seasons, and she also was an Academic All-Ivy League selection. As a senior, she helped deliver the key diving points that gave Princeton the Ivy League championship.
Hilary Matson (pyschology, Marathon, N.Y.) -- Matson shook off injuries to become one of the dominant field hockey players in the country. She had her best season this past year, when she was a first-team All-America and the Ivy League Player of the Year for Princeton's Ivy League championship team. She also was a three-time first-team All-Ivy League selection and the 1997 Ivy League Rookie of the Year. Matson led Princeton with 16 goals and 15 assists for 47 points as a senior.
Julie Shaner (psychology, Gwynned Valley, Pa.) -- Julie Shaner led Princeton to Ivy League championships and NCAA tournaments in both soccer and lacrosse, earning numerous individual honors in both sports. She was named first-team All-Ivy League five times (three times in lacrosse, twice in soccer), and she was also twice a second-team selection (once in each sport) and once an honorable mention selection (soccer). She was twice named first-team All-America in lacrosse, and she was a second-team pick as a sophomore. She was an All-Mid-Atlantic All-America in soccer as a senior, and she served as team captain in both sports senior year. Shaner finished her senior year with 20 goals and 21 assists in lacrosse, and she had 109 goals and 55 assists for her career.
The four winners were honored at the Princeton Varsity Club annual banquet Thursday evening.