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Princeton University Athletics
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/ Women's Lacrosse
Photo by: Andy Mead
Finkelston Named a Finalist for YRL Unsung Hero Award
May 15, 2017 | Women's Lacrosse
Princeton's junior Abby Finkelston has been announced as one of 10 finalists for the 2017 Yeardley Reynolds Love (YRL) Unsung Hero Award.
Finkelston is Princeton's second finalist since the award was established in 2010, joining Colleen Smith '14 who was a finalist in 2014.
The award recognizes the accomplishments of two Division I lacrosse players (one male, one female) who demonstrate dedication, integrity, humility, hard work, community service, leadership, kindness and sportsmanship – all qualities that Yeardley Love exemplified throughout her life. These student-athletes make a significant contribution to the team in ways that may not be measured in goals, saves or ground balls.
Sharon Robinson, Vice Chair or One Love and Yeardley's cousin, explains "We created this award to honor the qualities that Yeardley exemplified - service, kindness, and a positive spirit. We are thrilled to highlight these exceptional student-athletes as positive leaders in their communities. Each of them has contributed to their teams and their broader communities in a meaningful way, and together they represent the ideals of collegiate athletics."
Abby is active in a number of groups on campus besides being a member of the Princeton women's lacrosse team. She is the vice president of the Best Buddies chapter at Princeton, president of Wounded Tigers Network, a council member of Student-Athlete Service Council and is a Student-Athlete Wellness Leader. As VP of Best Buddies, Abby helps set up events and opportunities for Princeton students to develop friendships with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities from around the community. They have monthly events in which Princeton students are welcome to hang out with the buddies and participate in activities such as game night, arts and crafts, singing/dancing and more. As the president of the Wounded Tigers Network, she works to coordinate a support group, composed of Princeton student-athletes, that offers guidance, help, advice, and encouragement for injured athletes on campus. As a council member of the Student-Athlete Service Council she helps organize service opportunities around the community for fellow student-athletes. As a Student-Athlete Wellness Leader (SAWL) she is trained to promote healthy lifestyles among student-athletes, aids athletes in need of support, and refers them to appropriate resources.
During Abby's junior year of high school she was in a car accident. It left her with a constant headache and chronic neck pain to this day. She struggled with the injury through the rest of high school and into college and felt that a support group for injured athletes was missing from the Princeton campus. She reached out to SAWL and gathered a group to start the Wounded Tigers Network. They had the goal of creating a support network outside of their respective teams, trainers, and psychologists of fellow Princeton student-athletes who understand what it is like to be injured on this campus. It is their hope that this group can offer an additional and beneficial resource for injured Princeton athletes.
A long-time member of Best Buddies, Abby is the Vice President of the Princeton Chapter. She first took part in the organization as a freshman at Leonardstown High School. Abby spent four years with the program as a peer aid in an adapted physical education class for special needs children. She quickly discovered that this is her passion and continued to surround herself with the special needs community. When she got to Princeton she joined the Best Buddies chapter and applied to be vice president this year to take a larger role in the organization. She also has a one-on-one buddy named Vinny and the highlights of her week are the times she gets to talk and hang out with him. She hopes to pursue a career in this field.
As one of 10 members of the Student-Athlete Service Council at Princeton, Abby helps support and coordinate service opportunities for Princeton student-athletes across 37 varsity sports. The council organizes activities and events such as "Reading with the Tigers" in local elementary schools; SASC Soaps, an effort by student-athletes to collect unused hotel shampoos and soaps to be donated to local shelters; TerraCycle, a recycling effort for granola bar wrappers from the Fueling Station and from athletes in general; and the annual Weapons of Mass Construction all-sports clinic that is hosted for youth on the Princeton campus.
For the past five years, she's been a volunteer at the Special Olympics, helping with set up and clean up and accompanying athletes to their events. When she goes home over the holidays, she volunteers with Meals on Wheels to bring breakfast to elderly and disabled adults from her hometown community. Through her affiliation with our team, she has taken part in countless youth lacrosse clinics, done interior painting work at the Trenton Senior Center, and coached and mentored middle school girls through Harlem Lacrosse and Leadership.
The two award winners will be announced on May 22.
Finalists
Liam Driscoll, Holy Cross
Tyler Pfister, Ohio State University
Brady Dove, US Naval Academy
Mark Rizzo, University of North Carolina
Ryan Lukacovic, University of Virginia
Maddie Curley, Boston University
Katie Burgee, Ohio State University
Alina Atayan, Marquette University
Lauren D'Amore, University of Pennsylvania
Abigail Finkelston, Princeton University
ABOUT THE ONE LOVE FOUNDATION
Founded in 2010 to honor the memory of Yeardley Love, One Love's mission is to end relationship abuse by educating young people about healthy and unhealthy relationship behaviors and empowering them to be leaders driving change in their communities. Over the last two years, more than 130,000 young people in communities across the country have participated in the Escalation Workshop and almost 60 million have viewed the #ThatsNotLove campaign on social media. For more information, please visit www.joinonelove.org.
Finkelston is Princeton's second finalist since the award was established in 2010, joining Colleen Smith '14 who was a finalist in 2014.
The award recognizes the accomplishments of two Division I lacrosse players (one male, one female) who demonstrate dedication, integrity, humility, hard work, community service, leadership, kindness and sportsmanship – all qualities that Yeardley Love exemplified throughout her life. These student-athletes make a significant contribution to the team in ways that may not be measured in goals, saves or ground balls.
Sharon Robinson, Vice Chair or One Love and Yeardley's cousin, explains "We created this award to honor the qualities that Yeardley exemplified - service, kindness, and a positive spirit. We are thrilled to highlight these exceptional student-athletes as positive leaders in their communities. Each of them has contributed to their teams and their broader communities in a meaningful way, and together they represent the ideals of collegiate athletics."
Abby is active in a number of groups on campus besides being a member of the Princeton women's lacrosse team. She is the vice president of the Best Buddies chapter at Princeton, president of Wounded Tigers Network, a council member of Student-Athlete Service Council and is a Student-Athlete Wellness Leader. As VP of Best Buddies, Abby helps set up events and opportunities for Princeton students to develop friendships with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities from around the community. They have monthly events in which Princeton students are welcome to hang out with the buddies and participate in activities such as game night, arts and crafts, singing/dancing and more. As the president of the Wounded Tigers Network, she works to coordinate a support group, composed of Princeton student-athletes, that offers guidance, help, advice, and encouragement for injured athletes on campus. As a council member of the Student-Athlete Service Council she helps organize service opportunities around the community for fellow student-athletes. As a Student-Athlete Wellness Leader (SAWL) she is trained to promote healthy lifestyles among student-athletes, aids athletes in need of support, and refers them to appropriate resources.
During Abby's junior year of high school she was in a car accident. It left her with a constant headache and chronic neck pain to this day. She struggled with the injury through the rest of high school and into college and felt that a support group for injured athletes was missing from the Princeton campus. She reached out to SAWL and gathered a group to start the Wounded Tigers Network. They had the goal of creating a support network outside of their respective teams, trainers, and psychologists of fellow Princeton student-athletes who understand what it is like to be injured on this campus. It is their hope that this group can offer an additional and beneficial resource for injured Princeton athletes.
A long-time member of Best Buddies, Abby is the Vice President of the Princeton Chapter. She first took part in the organization as a freshman at Leonardstown High School. Abby spent four years with the program as a peer aid in an adapted physical education class for special needs children. She quickly discovered that this is her passion and continued to surround herself with the special needs community. When she got to Princeton she joined the Best Buddies chapter and applied to be vice president this year to take a larger role in the organization. She also has a one-on-one buddy named Vinny and the highlights of her week are the times she gets to talk and hang out with him. She hopes to pursue a career in this field.
As one of 10 members of the Student-Athlete Service Council at Princeton, Abby helps support and coordinate service opportunities for Princeton student-athletes across 37 varsity sports. The council organizes activities and events such as "Reading with the Tigers" in local elementary schools; SASC Soaps, an effort by student-athletes to collect unused hotel shampoos and soaps to be donated to local shelters; TerraCycle, a recycling effort for granola bar wrappers from the Fueling Station and from athletes in general; and the annual Weapons of Mass Construction all-sports clinic that is hosted for youth on the Princeton campus.
For the past five years, she's been a volunteer at the Special Olympics, helping with set up and clean up and accompanying athletes to their events. When she goes home over the holidays, she volunteers with Meals on Wheels to bring breakfast to elderly and disabled adults from her hometown community. Through her affiliation with our team, she has taken part in countless youth lacrosse clinics, done interior painting work at the Trenton Senior Center, and coached and mentored middle school girls through Harlem Lacrosse and Leadership.
The two award winners will be announced on May 22.
Finalists
Liam Driscoll, Holy Cross
Tyler Pfister, Ohio State University
Brady Dove, US Naval Academy
Mark Rizzo, University of North Carolina
Ryan Lukacovic, University of Virginia
Maddie Curley, Boston University
Katie Burgee, Ohio State University
Alina Atayan, Marquette University
Lauren D'Amore, University of Pennsylvania
Abigail Finkelston, Princeton University
ABOUT THE ONE LOVE FOUNDATION
Founded in 2010 to honor the memory of Yeardley Love, One Love's mission is to end relationship abuse by educating young people about healthy and unhealthy relationship behaviors and empowering them to be leaders driving change in their communities. Over the last two years, more than 130,000 young people in communities across the country have participated in the Escalation Workshop and almost 60 million have viewed the #ThatsNotLove campaign on social media. For more information, please visit www.joinonelove.org.
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