George Mason University lacrosse midfielder and biology major Lauren Distad is the 2024 Aimee Willard Commemorative Award recipient. This award is given annually to a student-athlete who embodies Willard's legacy and who mirrors the standards of quality set by Willard in her two-sport career: intensity, consistency of purpose, achievement, and teamwork.
Distad's path to winning the Aimee Willard Award started 1,100 miles away from George Mason in Roseville, Minnesota, where she grew up. "I come from a very diverse area in Minnesota," said Distad. "I saw a lot of people that weren't given equitable care and opportunities that I was given. So, in high school, I started volunteering and doing stuff because I wanted to close that gap. I started a food drive during COVID, and that kind of kick-started me with community service stuff.”
A student-athlete’s coach must nominate them for the award. "Lauren has been a consistent contributor to our program, her school, and her community,” said George Mason women’s lacrosse head coach Kara Mupo. “She continuously upholds the highest standards through everything she does and leaves a positive and lasting impact on people in all facets of her life."
When she chose to come to George Mason, Distad says lacrosse was the leading factor, but it's not the reason she's stayed. "Lacrosse brought me here […] but I stay because of the people that I've met here and the consistency within academics and athletics. It's a great environment, great community."
Distad plays an active role in making George Mason and the surrounding Fairfax community a great place to be. In her limited free time over the past three years, Distad has served as a member of the Student Athletics Advisory Committee, as a George Mason Ambassador, a Mason Chooses Kindness Ambassador, and she is heavily involved in Morgan's Message, a nonprofit that “strives to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health within the student-athlete community and equalize the treatment of physical and mental health in athletics.”
Distad is also the founder of the One Love club on campus, a group that raises awareness about relationship violence by hosting events, workshops, and fundraisers. She also has excelled in the classroom; she was twice named a Athletics Provost Scholar and has been on the Dean's List for every semester she's attended George Mason. Distad also works two on-campus jobs in Athletics.
In March 2024, she received an OrthoVirginia Student Achiever Award, which recognizes George Mason student-athletes that excel in all areas—academics, athletics, and service to the community.
Off campus, Distad has volunteered at the Lloyd Moss Free Clinic as a medical scribe and has worked with FACETS at the Wedgewood Community Center, helping with afterschool enrichment. She also spent summer 2023 as a volunteer in the birth center and breast health care center at Regions Hospital in Minnesota. She is on a pre-med track and is set to take the MCAT this fall with the hopes to specialize in pediatrics or as a fertility specialist, but that's not the only reason she picked her volunteer work.
"I just like to see people happy,” Distad said. “I know it sounds super simple, but everyone deserves equitable care and to be happy and to be cared for and seen."
On the field, Distad has played all over, but has become the team's draw specialist this year, tallying 87 draw controls, good for third most in the Atlantic 10. And while she's led the draw team to be top-25 in the country in draw control percentage, she humbly credits her teammates and coaches as the reason for their success: “I couldn't do it without my draw circle. We work really well as a team. There's a lot that goes into it and it's very skilled and people don't really notice that. […] And our circle game was really good last year, but [assistant coach Riley Ewing] enhanced our on-draw calls. I'm very fortunate to have a good team that supports me and who has my back.”