University of Massachusets Athletics
Budd, Harrington, Korhonen Named 21st Century Leaders By UMass
May 23, 2006 | Women's Track & Field
May 23, 2006
UMass student-athletes Elisabeth Budd, Heather Harrington, and Jon Korhonen have been named as three-of-15 21st Century Leaders by the University of Massachusetts. The group will be honored this Sunday, May 28 at the University's 136th Commencement.
Budd and Korhonen were members of the track and field teams, while Harrington was a member of 11-time Atlantic 10 Championship rowing team.
The awards are designed to recognize students who are academically accomplished and who have contributed to the university by exceptional achievement or have enhanced the reputation of the campus. The recipients are nominated by faculty for strong leadership qualities; noteworthy original research; community service; the achievement of success by overcoming extraordinary personal circumstances, or public presentation through art, performance or athletic ability.
This is the fourth year the awards have been given. The awards are sponsored by the Chancellor's Office and the Alumni Association. The presentation of the senior awards during the undergraduate Commencement is designed to focus the ceremony on the accomplishments of students and to recognize the support they have received from their families, says Chancellor John V. Lombardi.
This year's recipients are:
• Steven J. Alden, an Accounting major from Charlton.
• Kate G. Baldacci, a Psychology major from Bangor, Maine.
• Kristen M. Bouley, a History major from Auburn.
• Elisabeth Aileen Budd, a History and Psychology major from Springfield.
• Heather A. Harrington, a Mathematics major from Concord.
• Jonathan Peter Korhonen, a Communication major from Gardner.
• Sarah Catherine Krill, an English major from Longmeadow.
• Jonathan D. Moreno, a Chemical Engineering and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology major from Chelmsford.
• Stephanie R. Murphy, a Biochemistry and Molecular Biology major from Hopkinton.
• Nissa Lindholm Perrott, a Theater major from Amesbury.
• Jochebed A. Pink, a Biology major from Holyoke.
• Theresa M. Ray, a Psychology major from Littleton, Colo.
• Yomarie Silva, an Accounting major from Hunacao, Puerto Rico.
• Julie T. Weismantel, a Psychology and Dance major from Hopkinton.
• Stephen L. Wood, a Psychology major from Fairhaven.
Korhonen saved some of his best running for his last season as he became the all-time fastest miler in UMass history during the indoor season at the Boston University Valentine Invitational. His time of 4:04.26 is the fastest indoor mile time in school history breaking the previous 25-year standing record. This past indoor season, he finished second in the 3,000 meters at the A-10 Indoor Championships posting the team's fastest time of the season in the event.
The Gardner, Mass., native has twice been named the UMass Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year (2004-05 & 2005-06) and was named the A-10 Indoor Track Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2004-05. Korhonen was also named to the 2004-05 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America team. He holds a cumulative GPA of 3.952 in communication.
Budd closed out her A-10 career with her first-ever outdoor championship title winning the 400-meter hurdles in 1-minute, 2.95 seconds. That time goes down as the fifth-fastest mark in UMass history. Budd, a double-major in history and psychology, came close to winning the hurdle title in 2004, but came away with silver. This is her second A-10 title overall as she won the 500-meter dash during the Indoor Championships as a sophomore in 2004.
She has been on the A-10's academic honor roll and has been an Academic All-America nominee. She also has been active in community service events working with 5-12 year old children and hopes to put her education to use helping underperforming school systems as a consultant after she works on her master's in educational psychology.
Harrington has helped pace the Minutewomen rowing team to four-straight A-10 titles and four consecutive ECAC titles in her time at UMass. In her career, she has been awardeded the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship of which just 300 students are honored nationally. She was honored for mathematics and is working on a research project to develop a mathematical model to predict how a chemical inhibitor affects the growth of tumors in the rat cornea. She majored in mathematics with a minor in philosophy.
The recipients will receive a plaque and a monetary award from the Alumni Association.