The Marquette athletic department encourages students to vote once a day until Nov. 25. Fan voting counts for one-third of the total vote. The final two-thirds will come from ballots cast by Division I coaches and media members, and the winner will be announced in December.
In Ciesiulka’s bio on the award’s website, sorts his achievements into four categories: classroom, character, community and competition.
In the classroom, Ciesiulka was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-American second team for the 2012-13 year. He also earned the Big East Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence Award as men’s soccer’s conference representative. According to the website, Ciesiulka, a mathematics major, is on track to graduate magna cum laude in three-and-a-half years and has a cumulative grade point average of 3.72.
As far as character goes, Ciesiulka is in the midst of his third season as one of Marquette’s captains. He also served as captain of his Chicago Fire developmental league team. According to the website, Ciesiulka’s uses his work ethic “to motivate and inspire his teammates to succeed in the classroom and to consistently pursue championships.”
Perhaps Ciesiulka’s strongest area is his community service. He raised more than $30,000 for the Feed My Starving Children organization in three months last year. He also led Marquette’s effort to make more than 100,000 sandwiches for malnourished children in Haiti. Those two highlight a long list of community service contributions he has made locally and internationally.
On the field, Ciesiulka anchors Marquette’s midfield. His presence was missed severely when he was out for this season with a head injury. Since his return, Marquette boasts a perfect record in league play.
Ciesiulka currently sits in third place, with 14.8 percent of the vote.
