Lake Forest College Sports Information
May 31, 2005
Contact: Mike Wajerski, SID

Shannon Clerkin Earns Midwest Conference Sportsmanship Award
Senior remained team’s leader despite career-ending injury

Clerkin contributed to the team despite career-ending injury.
LAKE FOREST, IL - The Midwest Conference announced its annual Sportsmanship Award winners Tuesday (May 31) and Lake Forest College women’s basketball player Shannon Clerkin (Barneveld, WI/Barneveld) earned the women’s award.

While Clerkin has always been known at Lake Forest College and throughout the Midwest Conference as both a competitive and sportsmanlike player, the latter characteristic was tested in a different way this year. The senior suffered a season-ending injury to her shooting hand on December 31. Had she been able to complete the year, she almost surely would have earned consecutive all-conference honors for the fourth straight year, scored her 1,000th career point, and moved into first place in school history in career rebounds. Despite the cruel reality that her collegiate playing career was over, Clerkin remained dedicated to both her team and sport. She attended every practice and took her replacement in the lineup, a freshman, under her wing and helped her improve dramatically as the season progressed. She was also there for every game and, as one of the team’s elected captains, met with the officials and opponents’ captains before each contest. She was often approached by opposing coaches who respected her as a player and person enough to offer their own condolences for the premature end to her career.

“I could not have been prouder of the way Shannon conducted herself throughout the season,” Lake Forest College head basketball coach Jackie Slaats commented. “Not very many injured players remain so dedicated to the team and choose to take on an even greater leadership role than before the injury. It says a lot about the type of person and role model Shannon is.”

Clerkin has also been extremely involved in Lake Forest College’s Athletic Council, which annually participates in the Walter Payton Toy Drive and a food drive. This year the group also organized a Special Olympics Day on campus and she was one of the leaders of that project. During the summer she is a coach at a local basketball camp.

One of the most important yet often unnoticed things she did for others on campus was as a student worker. For four years she was the most reliable member of the group of students who take care of teams’ laundry. While she did get paid for this activity, she chose to remain in that department throughout her collegiate career instead of switching to numerous easier jobs.

Grinnell College’s Matt Teeters received the league award on the men’s side and both were nominated as the MWC representatives for the 2005 NCAA Sportsmanship Awards.