Female Student-Athletes Honored
May 2, 2002
LAS VEGAS - The UNLV Women's Sports Foundation hosted its annual awards banquet for female student-athletes Wednesday at the Moyer Student Union on campus. Athletes from each sport were honored for their hard work and dedication in and out of athletics.
Rookie of the Year, Coach's and Most Valuable Player awards were presented by each sport's head coach and the nominees for the UNLV Sportswoman of the Year award were announced.
Basketball's Linda Fr?hlich, track & field's Michele Davis and swimming's Lorena Diaconescu are the nominees for this year's Sportswoman of the Year award, which will be announced following the completion of all spring sports.
Fr?hlich is UNLV's all-time leading scorer in basketball (both men's and women's) with 2,355 career points. She is also the Lady Rebels' all-time leading rebounder with 1,124 career boards. The 26th overall selection to the New York Liberty in the 2002 WNBA Draft was selected as a third team Associated Press All-America this year after leading the Lady Rebels to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1994.
Davis earned two-time NCAA All-America status after finishing in the top eight in the 200 (eighth) and 400 (sixth) meters at the 2002 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. She became only the fourth four-time NCAA All-American in UNLV women's track & field history (outdoor 200, 400 meters and indoor 200, 400 meters) and is the school's record holder in the indoor 200 meters after breaking a 10-year-old mark with a preliminary time of 23.32 seconds at the NCAA Championships.
Diaconescu was named the Mountain West Conference's Women's Swimmer of the Year for the third straight year as she won the women's 200 freestyle at the conference championships for the third year in a row. She is an NCAA qualifier and a first-team All-MWC member in five events. Additionally, she set the school and conference record in the 200 IM with a time of 2:02.63.
Additionally, the 2002 WSF Alumna of the Year Cyndi Parus Castro was honored. She is a former UNLV softball player and the current head coach at Centennial High School. Each year the foundation honors an outstanding alumna, someone who has gone on after college to be a contributing member in her community.
2001-02 UNLV Women's Athletics Awards
Basketball Rookie: Sherry McCracklin Coach's: Constance Jinks M.V.P.: Linda Fr?hlich
Golf Rookie: None Coach's: Erin Borcherts M.V.P.: Hwanhee Lee
Soccer Rookie: Alice Gleason Coach's: Marni Polakow M.V.P.: Robyn Krivacic/Anita Pedford
Softball Rookie: Pauline Glenn Coach's: Melissa Inouye M.V.P.: Geney Orris
Swimming/Diving Rookie: Raluca Udroiu Coach's: Dana Penn M.V.P.: Lorena Diaconescu
Tennis Rookie: Tracie Chong Coach's: Marianne Bakken/Agnieszka Abram M.V.P.: Gyorgyi Zsiros
Cross Country Rookie: Kelley Wright Coach's: Jennifer Turk M.V.P.: Jessica Zarndt
Track & Field Will be awarded following completion of the season
Volleyball Rookie: Sheila Clemente Coach's: Amy Lewis M.V.P.: Blair Wilkes
Rodeo Rookie: Nataly Tatone Coach's: Dani Jeanne Duncan M.V.P.: Suzanne Montero
