Colorado College's Auguste Wins Jostens Trophy

SALEM, Va. - Melanie Auguste of Colorado College has been named the winner of the 2009 Jostens Trophy, which recognizes the most outstanding women's Division III basketball player of the year.

In voting concluded before the beginning of the NCAA Tournament, Auguste was the top women's vote-getter among 10 finalists. Voters ranked each of the 10 finalists from top to bottom, and finalists were evaluated based on basketball ability, academics and community service.

Senior guard Jimmy Bartolotta of MIT won the men's award.

Auguste was the first player in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference history to lead the league in scoring (20.0 points per game) and assists (7.0). She finished her career as the program's all-time leader with 612 assists and 243 steals. She also ranks No. 3 with 1,587 points and 102 three-point baskets, and is No. 4 with 827 rebounds.

Auguste has a 3.74 GPA in economics and is a nominee for a Rhodes Scholarship. She takes part in Habitat for Humanity at Colorado College and was a founding editor of a student-run academic journal called the Rocky Mountain Undergraduate Review.

Bartolotta and Auguste will receive their awards at a ceremony in Salem, Va., on Thursday, March 19. It's the 12th year the award has been presented to the top all-around student-athlete in Division III men's and women's basketball.

Auguste is the second player from the SCAC to win the award. Tara Rohde of Trinity University won the Jostens in 2005.