Former Huskies All-American point guard Renee Montgomery was named one of five finalists for the prestigious Honda-Broderick Cup Monday. It’s an award that annually honors the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year.
Montgomery is joined on the final list by Colorado’s Jennifer Barringer (track and field), Penn State’s Nicole Fawcett (volleyball), Georgia’s Courtney Kupets (gymnastics) and Washington’s Danielle Lawrie (softball). Lisa Fernandez, a three-time Olympic gold medalist in softball who won the award in 1993, will present the award during a press conference at Columbia University in New York June 22.
Below are career highlights of the finalists as they appeared on the release:
Jennifer Barringer (senior, track and field) – Barringer capped off a historic college career on the track as she became the first Buffalo to win three NCAA titles in the same event over the course of four years. The Oviedo, FL native captured the 3,000-meter steeplechase crown at the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship last week at the University of Arkansas in an NCAA and meet record 9:25.54 – the fastest time recorded in the world this season. She won her first NCAA title in the event as a freshman in 2006 in a then-school record time of 9:53.04 and her second in 2008, when she defeated the entire field by 25 seconds. She holds a total of 6 NCAA records (indoor mile, 3k, 5k; outdoor 1500, steeplechase, 5k). She competed for the U.S. Olympic team at the 2008 Games and finished ninth in the 3,000m steeplechase, setting an American record of 9 minutes, 22.26 seconds. She is a four-time All-American USTFCCCA and Big 12 Women’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Year. The eight-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner’s honor roll carries a 3.564 GPA. She has been a member of the Dean’s List four times and is a three-time member of the Big 12 All-Academic First team.
Nicole Fawcett (senior, volleyball) – A 6’ 4” left-side hitter, Fawcett is a native of Zanesfield, Ohio. She led the Lions to their second consecutive NCAA title, serving the championship point, and helped her team become the first-ever with a no-loss regular season record (96-0). She also helped her team to the national title in 2007. The AVCA National Player of the Year, Fawcett was named the Big Ten Player of the Year and is a three-time AVCA First Team All-America selection. She averaged 3.78 kills per game (the second best on her team), and her .358 hitting average for the season (as an outside hitter) ranked 32nd in the nation. She was tops on her team for 40 service aces and added 210 total blocks for the year. Her mother played volleyball at Wright State University and her maternal grandfather was a pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles in 1945. She is a Human Development and Family Studies major. She is currently playing professionally for Gigantes de Carolina (The Carolina Giants) in Liga de Voleibol Superior Femenio, Puerto Rico’s professional league.
Courtney Kupets (senior, gymnastics) – A native of Athens, GA, Kupets led her team to its fifth straight NCAA Championship title, winning the all-around, bars, beam and floor competitions and becoming the first gymnast ever to win a national title in each event. She finished the season ranked #1 in all-around, bars and beam, and second on floor and vault. She received five First-Team All-America honors, making a total of 15 for her career (the maximum for only competing three years). She is the all-time NCAA leader with nine individual championships and was named SEC, AAI National Senior and NCAA Southeast Regional Gymnast of the Year. At the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Kupets won a Silver Medal with her fellow U.S. team members in the team all-around competition, as well as an individual Bronze Medal in the uneven bar competition . She is a National Honor Society member and was c hosen as ESPN The Magazine First Team Academic All-American in both 2009 and 2007 and is a recipient of NCAA and SEC postgraduate scholarships .
Danielle Lawrie (junior, softball) – A native of Langley, British Columbia, Lawrie struck out 12 batters and hit two home runs in this year’s deciding Super Regional win over Georgia Tech and hit a Grand Slam in the semifinal of the Women’s College World Series to send her Huskies to the Championship Series, where she led the team to its first-ever softball championship title. The 5’ 7” right-hander led the nation this year in strikeouts (521) and wins (42), was third in shutouts (21) and sixth in ERA (0.97). She was named 2009 USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year and Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year, and with her 42-8 record the 2009 season has been her best ever. She set UW single-season school records in six categories this year: wins (42), strikeouts (521), innings pitched (352.2), shutouts (21), starts (50) and complete games (46) and broke career records for strikeouts (1,365), shutouts (41) and complete games (108). She also set season school records in strikeouts in each of her prior two seasons at UW: 387 as a freshman in 2006 and 457 in 2007. She competed for the Canadian National Team at the Olympic Games in Beijing, where they came in fourth. She is as an Education and Communications major.
Renee Montgomery (senior, basketball) – Montgomery, a native of St. Albans, WV and a four-year starter as point guard for the Huskies, captained her team to an undefeated season this year, culminating with the NCAA championship in which she scored 18 points in the final game. She received both the Big East Sportsmanship Award and the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award and was a WBCA, USBWA, and AP First Team All-American. Montgomery is one of only three players ever at UConn to boast 1500 career points and 500 assists, and she is the only player in school history to rank in the top-10 in points, assists, steals and 3-pointers. She started 139 consecutive games in her college career – the longest streak in the nation – and also played in 150 games, a program best. Montgomery was the #4 pick in the WNBA draft this year, chosen by the Minnesota Lynx. A communications major with a 3.1 GPA, she is also the first-ever active player inducted into the University of Connecticut’s Huskies of Honor.
Rich
