Michigan Players Tabbed as AWPCA All-Americans

ANN ARBOR, Michigan, June 18. JUNIOR Leah Robertson (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor), senior Julie Hyrne (Sunnyvale, Calif./Archbishop Mitty) and sophomore Alison Mantel (Miami, Fla./Gulliver) of the University of Michigan water polo team were selected for All-America honors by the American Water Polo Coaches Association on Thursday (June 18). Robertson earned a spot on the third team, while Hyrne and Mantel garnered honorable mention status.

Robertson, an honorable mention selection in 2008, led the Wolverines in steals for the third consecutive season with 69 thefts. In addition to the shutdown defense that has put her atop the program list for steals, Robertson ranked second on the team in assists with 31, third in points with 72 and fourth in goals, denting the twine on 41 occasions. Robertson had a strong regular season, collecting CWPA All-Western Division first team honors but turned it on in the postseason to the tune of 24 points in nine games. Along the way, she was named to the CWPA Eastern All-Tournament first team and became the first Wolverine to earn a repeat selection to an NCAA All-Tournament team, being tabbed to the first team.

Hyrne concluded her career with her second All-America recognition, following up a third team selection last season. The Wolverine quad-captain returned from offseason surgery to lead the team with 33 assists and finished second in goals with 51, points with 84 and was fourth in steals with 41. She also became the only U-M player to amass 100 assists, 200 goals and 300 points in a career. She repeated as CWPA Western Division MVP and as a CWPA Eastern All-Tournament first team honoree. In the classroom, Hyrne was tabbed Academic All-Big Ten and to the CWPA Scholar-Athlete team.

Mantel earned her first national recognition after leading the Maize and Blue with 56 goals and 87 points. A CWPA All-Western Division second team selection, Mantel also finished second amongst Wolverines with 50 steals and 31 assists. She became the third player in program history to record 50 goals in a season in 2009 and made her debut on the U-M career goals list with 105 scores in two seasons. Mantel was also named to the CWPA Scholar-Athlete team and earned Academic All-Big Ten honors.

The AWPCA selects first, second and third teams for its Division I All-America awards. For voting, players receive three points for a first team nomination, two points for a second team nomination, and one point for a third team nomination. A player may earn honorable mention if she receives votes from two schools, excluding her own.

The Wolverines finished the 2009 season with a program-best and conference-record No. 7 ranking nationally. Michigan finished with a 35-9 record en route to a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championship. U-M was crowned CWPA Western Division champions and collected its second consecutive CWPA Eastern championship.

N O T E S

• Leah Robertson becomes the fourth Wolverine to earn All-America status above honorable mention. Betsey Armstrong (2002-05) was named to the second team in 2004 and joined Shana Welch (2004-07) on the third team in 2005, while Julie Hyrne was tabbed to the 2008 third team.

• Julie Hyrne and Alison Mantel become the eighth and ninth U-M players to reach All-America honorable mention status.

• U-M's three selections are the most for any team outside of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

• Michigan collected a trio of All-America honors for the second time in program history. Armstrong, Welch and Sheetal Narsai (2002-05) all earned All-America recognition during the 2005 campaign.

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head Coach Matt Anderson
On the Michigan selections … "It is very nice because it is recognition by other college coaches who voted them on to the team. It is a pat on the back for having as solid of a season as we did. I commend Julie (Hyrne) for coming off major surgery and repeating as an All-American and Leah (Robertson) to repeat as well. It is also nice to have (Alison) Mantel, who led the team in goals, to get recognition. It is a compliment to the program and other coaches were able to recognize the quality of play put forth by the team and these individuals this season."

AWPCA Division I All-America Teams

FIRST TEAM
Tanya Gandy, UCLA
Kami Craig, Southern Cal
Lauren Silver, Stanford
Tumua Anae, Southern Cal
Michelle Stein, Southern Cal
Kelly Mason, Hawaii
Jessica Steffens, Stanford

Coach of the Year: Adam Krikorian, UCLA
Player of the Year: Tanya Gandy, UCLA

SECOND TEAM
Brittany Fullen, UCLA
Anne Belden, UCLA
Addison McGrath, Arizona State
Katie Rulon, UCLA
Anna Gonzales, San Diego State
Nicole Hughes, LMU
Juliet Moss, San Jose State

THIRD TEAM
Melissa Seidemann, Stanford
Leonie Van der Molen, Hawaii
Jillian Stapf, Cal State Northridge
Leah Robertson, Michigan
Camille Hewko, Cal
Amanda Ortiz, Cal State Bakersfield
Meghan Corso, Cal

HONORABLE MENTION
Kirsten Hudson, Hartwick
Tanya Torres, San Jose State
Stephanie Peckham, Cal
Kelly Eaton, Stanford
Erinn Greenwood, SDSU
Lindsay Kiyama, UC Davis
Julie Hyrne, Michigan
Priscilla Orozco, UCLA
Kristen Dronberger, USC
Stephanie Laing, Brown
Alison Mantel, Michigan
Aubrey Rowe, Bucknell
Valentina Rozas, Bucknell
Emily Csikos, Cal
Gillian Morgan, UC Santa Barbara
Stephanie Schnugg, Cal
Diana Romero, LMU
Katelin McCahill, Marist
Dagmar Genee, Hawaii
Elizabeth Hopkins, Maryland
Lynlee Smith, Arizona State
Jessica Coy, Cal State Northridge
Jenna Schuster, San Diego State
Dakotah Mohr, UC Davis
Forel Davies, USC
Sydney Sonoda, Cal State Northridge
Anne Scott, LMU
Kelly Campoli, San Diego State
Blaise Stanicic, Maryland
Joelle Bekhazi, USC
Yulia Blinovskaya, Fresno Pacific
Jessica McKee, Hartwick
Casey Flacks, LMU
Dani Curran, San Jose State
Amy Lamb, Santa Clara

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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