Men's lacrosse’s attackman CJ Kirst ’25 was nominated for ESPN’s Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly award in the men’s Best College Athlete category on June 26.
The Sun’s Male Athlete of the Year and The Tewaaraton Award Recipient finished his senior season with the Red as a national champion and broke the NCAA’s record for most lacrosse goals scored in a career. Kirst is a four-time All-American and has accumulated 247 goals and 98 assists at Cornell. He will continue his lacrosse career in the Premier Lacrosse League as the Philadelphia Waterdogs number one pick.
“It’s an incredible honor to be nominated,” Kirst said. “Being in the conversation and in the same place as all these professional athletes and accomplished people is amazing … I’ve had a lot of fun so far.”
Kirst’s fellow nominees include Duke University’s basketball star Cooper Flagg, Oklahoma State University’s wrestler Wyatt Hendrickson and Colorado University’s quarterback Travis Hunter.
“To be in conversation with them is just amazing and it’s really good for the sport of lacrosse to have that recognition and be in that conversation,” Kirst said.
Kirst and Gabby Thomas from Harvard University will represent the Ivy League at the award ceremony.
The last Cornellian to be nominated for an ESPY was volleyball player Sydney Moore ’24, who won the Billie Jean King Award in 2022.
“It feels good mentally to know that all that hard work paid off,” Kirst said. “I have a ton of people like my brother, former coaches and teammates to thank because they put me in this position to succeed.”
The ESPYs are slated to start on July 16 with voting available online.
Zeinab Faraj is the assistant sports editor on the 143rd editorial board and a member of the class of 2028 in the College of Arts and Sciences. You can reach her at zfaraj@cornellsun.com.
