New York, NY – Creighton Senior Lauren Jensen was awarded the 2023-24 BIG EAST Sport Excellence Award for women’s basketball, which recognizes academic and athletic achievements as well as community service.
In the 2023-24 season, Jensen led the Bluejays with 558 points (17.4 PPG), was second on the team with 98 assists and also grabbed 119 rebounds. Lauren was named to the All-BIG EAST First Team in 2023-24 and returns to lead the team in the 2024-25 season.
The Sport Excellence Awards are presented to a student-athlete in any BIG EAST-sponsored sport based on academic record, athletic distinction or achievement, and community volunteerism. Student-athletes who have achieved junior academic status and have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.00 are eligible. Winners are selected by the BIG EAST Faculty Athletics Representative Council.
Seton Hall led the way with four honorees, while Xavier and Villanova each had three. Five winners, who were student-athletes, namely Emily Landwehr of Butler, Julia Leas of Georgetown, Max Lyons of Marquette, Josh Lewin of Providence and Erin Kim of Xavier, had grade point averages of 3.9 or higher.
While the awards format allows for only one declared winner in each sport category, selecting recipients proves to be a challenge for the FAR Council each year as the nominees represent exceptional student-athletes who excel in academic achievement, service and athletics and are outstanding representatives of their schools and the conference.
For more information about the 2023–24 Sport Excellence Award winners, please visit each school’s website.
2023-24 BIG EAST Sports Excellence Award Winners:
| sport | Student-Athlet | institution | Significant | Grade point average |
| baseball | Zachary Sylvester | Seton Hall | Biology and Catholic Studies | 3,796 |
| Men’s basketball | Tyler Kolek | Marquette | Communication Sciences | 3,138 |
| Men’s cross country | Liam Murphy | Villanova | communication | 3,330 |
| Men’s Golf | Max Lyons | Marquette | Finance and accelerating ingenuity in markets | 3,977 |
| Men’s indoor athletics | Josh Lewin | providence | Marketing and Management | 3,960 |
| Lacrosse for Men | James Corasaniti | providence | History ^ | 3.690 ^ |
| Men’s Outdoor Athletics | Jesse Hamlin | butler | Mathematics and Computer Science | 3,798 |
| Men’s football | Taylor Rhinehart | Xavier | Finance | 3,839 |
| Swimming and diving for men | Sean Vizzard | Seton Hall | Biology, medical studies | 3,871 |
| Men’s tennis | Leon Huck | DePaul | Business Administration | 3,628 |
| hockey | Meghan Mitchell | Villanova | Finance | 3,890 |
| Soft ball | Kelsey Carr | Seton Hall | psychology | 3,847 |
| volleyball | Giorgia Walther | St. John’s | International Management | 3,830 |
| Women’s basketball | Lauren Jensen | Creighton | Psychology and Sociology | 3,790 |
| Women’s cross country | Kate Cochran | Seton Hall | Diplomacy and International Relations & Environmental Studies | 3,800 |
| Ladies Golf | Erin Kim | Xavier | Sports management | 4,000 |
| Women’s indoor athletics | Melissa Riggins | Georgetown | Business | 3,563 |
| Women’s Lacrosse | Landyn White | UConn | Allied Health | 3,650 |
| Women’s outdoor athletics | Roshell Clayton | Villanova | communication | 3,850 |
| Women’s football | Julia Leas | Georgetown | psychology | 3,900 |
| Swimming and diving for women | Emily Landwehr | butler | biochemistry | 3,971 |
| Women’s tennis | Imani Graham | Xavier | Sports Science | 3,790 |
