Chris Lutz, Colorado College, Men's Soccer

CHRIS LUTZ OF COLORADO COLLEGE, a senior from Downers Grove, Ill., has been selected the SCAC Character & Community Male Student-Athlete-of-the-Week for the week ending October 30, 2011.

Lutz, a two-time captain of the men’s soccer squad, is the ultimate team player who does anything he can to help the program succeed. A defender for the majority of his career, Lutz has been a major factor in 27 shutouts posted by the Tigers during his three-plus seasons.

Midway through the 2011 season, Lutz moved up to the midfield and responded by scoring the first four goals of his career, including the game winner in victories against Millsaps, Birmingham-Southern and Austin College. That outburst helped the Tigers secure a spot in the inaugural SCAC Men’s Soccer Championship.

Lutz, who owns a 3.62 grade-point average as environmental policy major, has made significant contributions with several other teams when not playing soccer.

During the second semester of the 2010-11 academic year, Lutz studied oceanography and nautical science at Sea Semester in Woods Hole, Mass. The highlight of the program was a six-week voyage on the SSV Corwith Cramer that began in Key West, Fla., made a three-day port call in Dominica (the “nature” island) and ended in St. Croix in the United States Virgin Islands.

While at sea, Lutz and his classmates studied plastic pollution and dinoflaggelates, among other topics. The results of their research will be published in the future. 

For three consecutive summers, Lutz returned to his home outside of Chicago to work as intern at the environmental consulting firm V3. He participated in projects designed to create and manage wetlands in areas that became farmland west and south of Chicagoland, and to provide environmental management of parks within the city of Chicago.

While on campus, Lutz’s community service has included leading the New Student Orientation trip for soccer and volleyball recruits the last two years to Crestone, Colo., where student-athletes built trails for the local Buddhist monasteries and created a campground for future camping trips.

He also has been an active member of Colorado College’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, participating in events such as National Student-Athlete Day, Parents Night Out and the annual Quony Cup soccer tournament, an all-campus event held in honor of former Colorado College soccer and lacrosse player Chris Quon.

Quon died from a heart condition on Sept. 19, 2009, just four months after graduating with a degree in economics. Proceeds from the tournament are split between the American Cancer Society and the Christopher Quon Memorial Fund.

Lutz also served as a mentor with Volunteer Action during his sophomore year and will be helping the organization after his soccer career concludes in November. VA matches role models from Colorado College with 4th and 5th grade students from Washington and Edison Elementary Schools to participate in fun, planned activities both on and off campus.