April 24, 2005

BEND, Ore. - The Mountain West Conference announced its all-conference team and individual awards Sunday afternoon and UNLV junior Elena Kurokawa was selected as player of the year while BYU's Juli Wightman was named freshman of the year.

Kurokawa won the MWC individual title with a one-over 214 to claim her first medalist title of her career and led UNLV to its second-straight conference crown this past weekend in Oregon. She was also a two-time MWC Women's Golfer of the Month this year, capturing the honor in both February and March. The win capped a strong spring for Kurokawa, who had placed in the top 10 in her past four tournaments leading into the conference championships.

It is the second-straight time that a golfer from UNLV has won the player of the year award as Sunny Oh claimed the honor last year.

Wightman of BYU garnered freshman of the year honors after posting a 78.58 stroke average this season. Wightman finished 24th at the MWC Women's Golf Championship and was dominate in head-to-head competition against fellow league freshmen this year.

Sue Nyhus of BYU and Angie Hopkins of Colorado State were named Co-Coaches of the Year. Nyhus led the Cougars to six top five tournament finishes this season, while Hopkins directed the Rams to seven finishes in the top five in 2004-05, including a team title at the Ptarmigan Ram Classic in September.

Player of the Year: Elena Kurokawa, Jr., UNLV

Freshman of the Year: Juli Wightman, Fr., BYU

Co-Coaches of the Year: Sue Nyhus, BYU; Angie Hopkins, Colorado State

All-Conference Team: Rachel Newren, So., BYU; Kristen Campos, Sr., Colorado State; Kailin Downs, Sr., New Mexico; Ashley Rollins, So., New Mexico; Christine Fernandez, Jr., New Mexico; Elena Kurokawa, Jr., UNLV