Charlie Mellies Selected as Semifinalist for Lowe's Senior CLASS Award
Award honors senior student-athletes who excel both on and off the field

March 17, 2008

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest senior Charlie Mellies has been selected as a candidate for the 2008 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. Mellies is one of 30 baseball players across the country who were chosen as semifinalists for the nation's premier award for college senior student-athletes.

The award honors senior student-athletes who excel both on and off the field. Presented annually to NCAA® Division I student-athletes in eight sports, the award focuses on the "Four C's" of classroom, character, community and competition.

Mellies is a fifth-year senior for the Demon Deacons. The righthanded pitcher is a three-year captain and a weekend starter for Wake Forest. Mellies was sidelined for portions of the 2006 and 2007 seasons after having elbow surgery.

Off the field, Mellies has a double major in political science and sociology. He has made the Dean's List every semester at Wake Forest, has been named to the ACC Honor Roll each of the past four years and was an All-ACC Academic Team honoree in 2006.

Mellies was inducted into Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK), a national leadership honor society, in April 2007. He is president of Wake Forest's chapter of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and a member of the Wake Forest Leadership Academy.

Mellies has volunteered his time on campus and in the community with such projects as Athletes Care Team, Eat with the Deacs, Baseball Bears, Project Pumpkin, YES Clinic and Santa's Helpers. He was also one of three baseball players who organized Wake Forest's Operation Wounded Soldier--a project that raised over $5,000.

Mellies is one of just two student-athletes from the Atlantic Coast Conference on the semifinalist list, joining Florida State's Ryan Strauss.

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award was launched in 2001 to honor the attributes of college basketball seniors who fulfill their entire athletic eligibility and pursue their degree. Since that time, Lowe's, an official corporate partner of the NCAA®, has expanded the award to include other NCAA sports including baseball.

This marks the second year for the baseball division of the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. University of Alabama infielder Emeel Salem was the inaugural winner in 2007.

From the list of 30 nominees (complete list attached), a national media committee will select 10 finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award in mid-April 2008. Those ten names will be placed on the official ballot for a nationwide vote that will include coaches, media and fans. The award winner will be announced and recognized at the 2008 NCAA® Men's College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.