Winners 2010

Zak Deschaine ’11 and Will Harsh ’11

The fourth annual Phil Rogers ’79 Prize was awarded on May 28, 2010 at the Princeton Rugby Dinner at Tiger Inn to two Junior ruggers – Zak Deschaine and Will Harsh. Each of these young men was nominated by their coaches for their individual contributions, as strong leaders and exemplary fellow teammates, of the PURFC Men’s team. The Board of the Foundation felt strongly that each of these candidates was extremely qualified and well-deserving of the Award, so in an unprecedented move, unanimously voted to bestow the Award to two players this year.

Zak Deschaine (Second Row) , consistently an “on field” leader, was elected Captain of the team as a Junior and was re-elected Captain for the 2010/2011 season – a “first” 2-year Captain. For Zak, “playing rugby at Princeton has been a great experience and the best decision I’ve made on campus”. Zak is from Frankenmuth, Michigan and is majoring in Economics, with a Certificate in Political Economy. Upon graduation, Zak hopes to be involved in investing and financial markets in some capacity.

Will Harsh, also playing Second Row, was President of the Club for the 2009-2010 year, elected for his junior year after having done an outstanding job as Vice President during his sophomore year. In Coach Lopacki’s words, Will “leads the team off the field”. Will is from Atherton, California and is majoring in Politics, Environmental Studies and African Studies and plans to join the Peace Corps upon graduation from Princeton.

We were very fortunate to have a number of Phil’s teammates from the Class of 1980 at the Awards dinner, including Steve Maritz, who introduced the Award this year, Dan James, Dan Bennewitz, Todd Cronan and Steve Bawol. Among the “usual suspects” present were Tim O’Neill ’77, Henry Maguire ’79, Phil’s wife Ieva Miesnieks Rogers ’80 and son Oliver (Wake Forest ’12) and Phil’s brothers Marty Rogers’78, accompanied by sculptor Virginia Abbott, and Pete Rogers (Penn State ’85). It was a great evening, weather co-operated beautifully and we (the Foundation) were especially pleased that both of this year’s Prize winners were able to attend the Award Presentation.