Princeton University Athletics
Hsiao, Kiser, Negron, Pilion Share Von Kienbusch Award
May 31, 2005 | General
May 31, 2005
Swimmer Stephanie Hsiao, golfer Avery Kiser, soccer player Esmeralda Negron and soccer/lacrosse player Elizabeth Pillion shared the 2005 C. Otto von Kiensbusch Award, given May 26 at the Princeton Varsity Club banquet.
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."
Stephanie Hsiao put together one of the greatest careers in the proud history of Princeton women's swimming and diving. The East Asian Studies major from Irvine, Calif., broke through during her sophomore year by winning two events in the Ivy League Championships, including the 100 breaststroke, an event she only began to compete in during that season.
That win highlighted one of three team championships Princeton won during Hsiao's career. She would win 13 events during her final two years, including seven as a senior when she would be named the 2005 Ivy League Championships Swimmer of the Meet. Both a two-time NCAA Championships representative and a two-time Academic All-Ivy selection, Hsiao succeeded in more ways than one during her Princeton career.
Avery Kiser made an immediate impact on the Princeton women's golf team as a freshman and has led the team since. In four years, she has taken medalist honors in 11 different tournaments and has led the Tigers to 11 team titles. Kiser won the Ivy League Championship in her freshman, sophomore and junior campaigns to become the only Ivy League golfer to win three straight league titles. Her bid for a fourth fell a few strokes short earlier this year, but Kiser finished fourth to claim All-Ivy honors for the fourth time in her career, becoming only the second Ivy women's golfer to do so. Kiser is the only Princeton golfer to compete in the NCAA Championships in all four years of her career. As a freshman and sophomore, she earned individual invites, while as a junior and a senior she competed as part of Princeton's team entry as the Tigers won the Ivy League Championship in those seasons. Kiser is an Operation Research and Financial Engineering major from Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.
Esmeralda Negron, a Spanish major from Harrington Park, N.J., graduates as the all-time leading scorer in soccer at Princeton for men and women. She was also the keystone of Princeton's unprecedented run to the NCAA Final Four this past fall, when the Tigers became the first Ivy League school to reach the women's soccer Final Four and the first Ivy school in any sport to reach the Final Four of a 64-team NCAA tournament.
Negron set Princeton single-season records with 20 goals, 12 assists and 52 points while earning her second-straight Ivy League Player of the Year Award and third first-team All-Ivy honor last fall. She finished with 47 goals and 111 points, and she is second all-time in assists at Princeton with 17. She also had four career overtime goals.
Elizabeth Pillion, a psychology major from Villanova, Pa., brought a winning spirit to two Princeton teams. Pillion finished her career with two national championships and three Final Four appearances in lacrosse and three NCAA tournament appearances and one NCAA Final Four in soccer. She played in seven NCAA tournaments, compiling a 19-4 record in postseason events. Pillion, despite a limited background in the sport, walked onto the soccer team her sophomore year. She became an immediate contributor that year, worked her way into the starting lineup as a junior and became a second-team All-Ivy League defender as a senior.
Pillion was a two-time first-team All-America and two-time unanimous first-team All-Ivy selection in women's lacrosse. She was twice a semifinalist for the Tewaaraton Trophy, honoring the national player of the year, and she was a team captain in 2005.
Her 150 career points rank 11th all-time at Princeton, and her 46 career assists rank in the top 10 in program history. She also finished her career among the top 10 players in team history in both ground balls and caused turnovers.
Pillion also earned NCAA All-Tournament team honors in both 2003, when the Tigers won their second-straight national championship, and in 2004, when the Tigers advanced to the national championship game.