Proudfit, Wojcik Are Top Athletes

Elizabeth "Buzz" Proudfit and Chris Wojcik were honored last night as Harvard's top senior athletes at the Senior Letterwinner's Dinner in Bright Hockey Center.

Abandoning their shinguards for suits and skirts, athletes and their parents commemorated the contribution of the Class of 1996 to Harvard's varsity athletic program. The seniors capped off their careers by singing a teary "Fair Harvard" after the last award was handed out.

Proudfit, a co-captain of the women's basketball team, won the Radcliffe College Alumnae Association Award, while Wojcik, captain of the men's soccer team and co-captain of the men's lacrosse team, was given the William J. Bingham Award by Director of Harvard Athletics William J. Cleary '56.

Wojcik led the lacrosse team to its first NCAA Tournament win since 1990. He was voted First Team All-Ivy and All-New England as well.

"I'm ecstatic," said Wojcik. "After playing for eight seasons, I couldn't ask for a greater culmination."

On the soccer field, Wojcik contributed three goals and an assist and helped the team to the NCAAs in 1994.

Proudfit was the emotional leader of the basketball team as it made its first appearance in the NCAAs. A shooting guard, she was a First Team All-Ivy selection and was the Crimson's second-leading scorer.

"I'm absolutely shocked. I think it was more of a recognition of our team accomplishments," she said. "It was a monstrous year, and for us to be recognized for this [is great]."

Six other students earned awards at the 30th annual banquet.

Swimmer Caroline Miller and field hockey's Maureen O'Brien were co-recipients of the Harvard-Radcliffe Women's Athletic Prize, given to the top female scholar-athletes.

Miller, a public policy major with a 3.293 grade-point average, holds the deaf world record in the 100-meter butterfly and was Harvard's top point-earner at the Eastern Championships.

O'Brien, an offensive standout in high school, turned herself into a defensively-minded midfielder in college. The Illinois native had a 3.80 GPA in biochemistry and heads to Harvard Medical School in the fall.

Field hockey and lacrosse player Carrie Shumway won the Mary G. Paget Prize for outstanding contributions to women's athletics, and the John P. Reardon '60 award for Harvard's top male scholar-athlete went to men's hockey star Kirk Nielsen.

Squash co-captain Tal Ben-Shachar, who is also a Crimson editor, received the Francis H. Burr '09 Scholarship for the senior "who combines as nearly as possible Burr's remarkable qualities of character, leadership, scholarship and athletic ability," while Thaddeus Kousser, who was hit by a car before his sophomore year, took home the John P. Fadden Award for overcoming physical adversity to make a contribution to his team.

Finally, football manager Monica Antezana was presented the Carrol F. Getchel Award as manager of the year.