ԱƵ student-athlete Peter Baum ’13 won the Tewaaraton Award, given to the best player in college lacrosse, in a ceremony held tonight in Washington, D.C. The junior attackman became the first player in ԱƵ history and the first player from the Patriot League to win the award.
“What an unbelievable experience,” Baum said. “I am so proud to be part of the ԱƵ family, and could not be happier to win this award for my teammates, friends, and Raider Nation.”
Baum received the prestigious award at a ceremony held at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.
Baum dominated this season, leading Division I in goals (67) and points (97). He has the most points since Matt Danowski had 97 points for Duke in 2008. Baum set ԱƵ and Patriot League records in both categories en route to being named the 2012 Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year.
Peter Baum, of Portland, Ore., is the first men’s Tewaaraton winner from west of the Mississippi. (Photo by Rich Barnes)
It is the sixth time in the award’s 12 years that the Tewaaraton recipient is also the Lt. Raymond Enners Award winner, which is selected by NCAA coaches and was awarded to Baum last week. Baum was also a first-team All-American.
Baum was selected over four other finalists: C.J. Costabile, Duke; Will Manny, UMass; Mike Sawyer, Loyola; and Steele Stanwick, Virginia.
“Pete is the hardest worker on our team and I am so very proud of him,” said Raiders head coach Mike Murphy. “These kinds of awards are given to guys on winning teams and I think our team, especially our seniors, really helped him out and did a great job to get the team to this level of success.
“It was also nice to see all the ԱƵ alumni and players that came to the ceremony to support Pete and the team. This is a good step for ԱƵ on the national scene and I could not be more proud to be a member of this program,”
Murphy added.
It is only the second time in the award’s history that the winner did not play in the championship game. Only in the award’s inaugural year has the winner not played in the title game — Doug Shanahan with Hofstra in 2001.
Baum led the Raiders to the NCAA Tournament, where ԱƵ knocked off previously unbeaten Umass in the first round before losing to Duke.
Baum’s parents, Richard and Jill, both graduated from ԱƵ in 1978.
This story was compiled from published media reports.