Kirsty Coventry Named a Finalist for 2005 Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year

NEW YORK, June 21. The Collegiate Women's Sports Awards today announced the five finalists for its annual top honor, the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year.

The finalists were chosen by a vote of more than 1,000 NCAA-member institutions, and the winner will be named at a special press conference on June 29 in New York. The winner will receive the prestigious 2005 Honda-Broderick Cup.

This year's five finalists for the Honda-Broderick Cup are, in alphabetical order: Seimone Augustus of Louisiana State University (basketball); Kirsty Coventry of Auburn University (swimming); Monique Henderson of UCLA (track & field); Ogonna Nnamani of Stanford University (volleyball); and Cat Osterman of the University of Texas (softball).

The five finalists for the Honda-Broderick Cup were chosen from previously announced Honda Award winners in 12 different NCAA-sanctioned sports. The sports and their nominees are basketball, Seimone Augustus, Louisiana State University; cross country, Kim Smith, Providence; field hockey, Kelly Dostal, Wake Forest; golf, Anna Grzebien, Duke University; gymnastics, Kristen Maloney, UCLA; lacrosse, Kristen Kjellman, Northwestern University; soccer, Leslie Osborne, Santa Clara University; softball, Cat Osterman, University of Texas; swimming, Kirsty Coventry, Auburn University; tennis, Zuzana Zemenova, Baylor University; track & field, Monique Henderson, UCLA; volleyball, Ogonna Nnamani, Stanford University.

Honda Inspiration Award
In addition to the annual Honda-Broderick Cup, the Collegiate Women's Sports Awards Program also presents its annual "Honda Inspiration Award" to a deserving collegiate female athlete. This year's recipient, Brittney Kroon, survived a liver transplant and returned as starting center of the Seattle Pacific University women's basketball team. The program also honors "Athletes of the Year" from both NCAA Division II and Division III colleges. They are Division II, Krystal Lewallen, softball, Northern Kentucky University and Division III Missy Buttry, cross country, Wartburg College.

Past Honda-Broderick Cup Winners
Last year's Honda-Broderick Cup winner, Tara Kirk of Stanford University, went on to compete and win a gold and bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Other past winners of the Honda-Broderick Cup include some of the most talented and accomplished collegiate athletes in recent history: Tracy Caulkins (1982, 1984, swimming & diving), Jackie Joyner-Kersee (track & field, 1984); Mary T. Meagher, (swimming, 1987), Mia Hamm (soccer, 1994), Cheryl Miller (basketball, 1983), Ann Meyers (1978, basketball), Chamique Holdsclaw (basketball, 1998), Cristina Teuscher swimming, 2000) and Lisa Fernandez (softball, 1993).

American Honda Motor Co., Inc. sponsors the Collegiate Women Sports Awards Program.

Career Highlights of This Year’s Final Five

Seimone Augustus – Augustus has started every game in her career, ending the 2004/2005 regular season as the second highest scorer in the SEC and first in free-throw percentage. She was named SEC Player of the Year by the coaches and the Associated Press for the 2004/2005 season. She has also been named one of the 15 finalists for the US Women's World University Team.

Kirsty Coventry – Coventry, who won individual gold, silver and bronze medals at the 2004 Olympic Games, won the 200-yard backstroke in 1:50.54 – the second fastest time in NCAA history – and also won the 200-yard and 400-yard individual medleys. Coventry also led off the 800-yard free relay in a school record time of 1:44.48 and finished her college career with seven NCAA titles.

Monique Henderson – Henderson was a gold medal winner in the 4x400m relay at the 2004 Summer Olympics. She recently won the 400-meter dash at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships with her personal best time (50.10) and in-season collegiate record – fifth-fastest all-time collegiate/NCAA meet record and PAC-10/UCLA record.

Ogonna Nnamani – Nnamani is an outside hitter who led her team to an NCAA championship this year and was voted the most outstanding player of the Final Four tournament after setting an NCAA record with 62 kills in the semifinal and final matches. Her 823 kills for this year's season set both conference and school records and ranks seventh in all-time NCAA competition.

Cat Osterman – Pitcher Cat Osterman was a member of the 2004 U.S. Olympic Softball Team, which won the gold medal in Athens. While at the University of Texas, she has broken virtually every school pitching record, as well as several Big 12 Conference and NCAA records. Osterman pitched 15-career no-hitters.

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