Utah’s Chase Hansen, Kari Lee Win Pac-12 Conference Medal
Jun 25, 2019, 11:16 AM | Updated: 12:24 pm
(Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images and Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)
(Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images and Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – The 2018-19 Tom Hansen Conference Medal recipients were announced and two University of Utah student athletes received medals. Utah football linebacker Chase Hansen and gymnast Kari Lee were both honored by the Pac-12 Conference.
The medals are given to each member institution’s outstanding senior male and female student-athlete based on the exhibition of the greatest combination of performance and achievement scholarship, athletics and leadership.
Hansen is the third Utah football player to win the medal, joining Derrick Shelby in 2012 and Hunter Dimick in 2017. After his first season at linebacker last year, Hansen was named a second-team All-American by the FWAA, Sporting News and Phil Steele. He also was named first-team All-Pac-12, leading the conference in tackles for loss with 22, which was good for fifth in the nation.
He was a team captain as a senior and led the Utah football team to their first Pac-12 south division title and appearance in the conference championship game.
In the classroom, Hansen earned a bachelor’s degree in consumer and community studies with an emphasis in financial planning and a minor in sociology. He has contributed to the community by visiting area hospitals, assisting at homeless shelters and volunteering with a Boy Scouts of America refugee troop.
Congratulations Chase Hansen, Utah's male Tom Hansen Conference Medal recipient! #goutes https://t.co/AlCnBWYDjr pic.twitter.com/L6OftH3n9X
— Utah Athletics (@utahathletics) June 25, 2019
Lee is the fifth Utah gymnast in eight years to win a medal. She is a three-time All-American and qualified for NCAA individual finals on vault and floor as a freshman and helped the Utes finish in second place nation at the 2015 NCAA Championships.
She won 20 event titles in her college career with a 9.975 best score on both bars and beam. Lee was a standout when the Red Rocks won the Pac-12 Championship in 2015 and 2017. They qualified for the NCAA Championships in all five years that Lee was with the Utes.
On top of all of the accomplishments in the gym, she was a four-time Pac-12 All-Academic selection and two-time WCGA Scholar All-American. Lee earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration.
Among the community, Lee participated in activities that included a Girls on the Run shoe drive, speaking to students and teaching a physical education class at local elementary schools, participating in a Q&A with high-risk high school femailes and a fundraiser for the non-profit Women of the World organization.
Congratulations Kari Lee, Utah's female Tom Hansen Conference Medal recipient! #goutes https://t.co/AlCnBWYDjr pic.twitter.com/QLTWoFtwIR
— Utah Athletics (@utahathletics) June 25, 2019
