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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Jubinville, Kovler, Lennox, Maag and Sanchez Share Roper Trophy
May 29, 2009 | General, Men's Cross Country, Men's Ice Hockey, Men's Lacrosse, Men's Squash, Men's Swimming and Diving, Men's Track and Field
Seniors Lee Jubinville, Mark Kovler, Doug Lennox, Michael Maag and Mauricio Sanchez were named the 2009 recipients of The William Winston Roper Trophy on Thursday night at the PVC Senior Student-Athlete Awards Banquet.
The Roper Trophy is the highest male student-athlete award at Princeton. The award was originally given by Mrs. William Winston Roper and the Class of 1902 in honor of Princeton's famed football coach. It goes annually to “a Princeton senior male of high scholastic rank and outstanding qualities of sportsmanship and general proficiency in athletics.” It has been awarded annually since 1936.
Lee Jubinville
Lee Jubinville graduates as one of the most decorated players ever to play for the Princeton men's hockey team. He came to Princeton as a strong defensive forward but developed into one of the most dangerous players in all of college hockey. He led the team in scoring in two of his four seasons, including a magical junior year in which he helped lead Princeton to the Ivy League and ECAC championships and its first NCAA tournament appearance in 10 years.
Jubinville was Princeton's leading scorer and the ECAC and Ivy League scoring champion as a junior. His performance led to his being named the ECAC and Ivy League Players of the Year, becoming the first Princeton player ever to win the ECAC year-end award. He was also named a first-team All-America, becoming one of four Princeton hockey players ever to achieve the honor, and was Princeton's first candidate for the Hobey Baker Award, college hockey's equivalent of the Heisman Trophy.
Jubinville helped Princeton back to the NCAA tournament again as a senior. He completed his career with 99 career points, leaving him 14th all-time at Princeton in scoring.
Mark Kovler
Mark Kovler of the men's lacrosse team became the first Princeton midfielder since Josh Sims in 2000 to be named a first-team All-America and the third player in school history to earn All-America honors four times. Kovler scored 34 goals as a senior for the second-highest single-season ever total by a Princeton midfielder, behind only the 36 scored by Sims in 2000. Kovler finished his career with 91 career goals, third all-time by Princeton middies behind Sims (103) and Lorne Smith '99 (94).
Kovler started his senior season slowly, with six goals in the first five games, but he would finish with 28 in the final 10. Along the way, he would score at least three goals five times, including a career-high five in the first round of the NCAA tournament against UMass.
He also earned first-team All-Ivy League honors for the second time in his career.
Doug Lennox
Prior to the arrival of Doug Lennox, Princeton had won three Ivy League men' swimming and diving titles in the previous 10 years. During his four-year career, Lennox guided the Tigers to three titles and earned a multitude of individual honors. He led the Tigers to the team championship in 2006 and 2007, and after falling short last year, he came back as a senior tri-captain and pushed Princeton to the 2009 title and a Top 20 national ranking.
Lennox won four Ivy League individual championships during his career in his top stroke, the butterfly. He swept the 100 and 200 in 2009 and helped Princeton to four relay titles, including all three freestyle relays. He earned first-team All-America honors after reaching an NCAA final in each of the last two years. He was also part of a trio of All America relays, giving Princeton its best NCAA weekend in years. Lennox' finest achievement may have come far away from the Princeton campus, though; he was part of the Puerto Rican squad at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Michael Maag
Michael Maag is one of the premiere distance runners in Princeton history.
Maag has been an individual Heps cross country champion and runner-up, and he helped Princeton to three team cross country championships, including this past fall. He has been an All-America, a two-time NCAA championships participant and a three first-team All-Ivy League selection, but his season did not end in the fall.
Maag was a double champion at the 2009 Ivy League Outdoor Heps, winning both the 1,500 and the 5,000. In previous seasons, Maag has won the 3,000 and been part of the distance medley relay championship team. He has earned four first-team and two second-team All-Ivy awards in track and field and helped the team to the indoor track and field championship in 2007.
He is the school-record-holder for the indoor 3,000, and he owns the second-best time in program history in the indoor mile. Maag competed in the mile at the 2008 NCAA Indoor Championship and has qualified for two events at this year's regional that will take place this weekend.
Mauricio Sanchez
Mauricio Sanchez guided the Princeton men's squash team to arguably its greatest four-year era in program history. The 2006 Ivy League Rookie of the Year and 2007, 2008 and 2009 Ivy League Player of the Year, Sanchez never played below the No. 2 spot in his career and never lost an Ivy League match after his freshman season. He was a four-time first-team All-Ivy and four-time first-team All-America honoree.
Sanchez led Princeton to four straight Ivy League men's squash championships, an unprecedented feat for the program, and he led the Tigers to four straight national team finals. He reached the national individual semifinals in all four years of his career and was a national finalist in both 2007 and 2009. He is one of only two collegiate players to earn a victory over Trinity phenom Baset Chaudhry, the 2008 and 2009 national champion, and head coach Bob Callahan considers Sanchez one of the all-time best players to ever compete for Princeton.