Nov. 2, 2006
Park Ridge, Ill. - The Big Ten Conference office announced the 2006 field hockey All-Big Ten Teams and individual award winners today. Conference champion Ohio State collected three of the five individual honors as Saskia Mueller and Yesenia Luces were named Player and Offensive Player of the Year, respectively. In addition, OSU mentor Anne Wilkinson picked up Big Ten Coach of the Year honors. In other individual laurels, Iowa's Heather Schnepf collected her second consecutive Defensive Player of the Year accolade, while teammate Meghan Beamesderfer was tabbed the Freshman of the Year.
Mueller, who currently leads the conference in assists (14) and Luces, who ranks first in the Big Ten in points (33), become the first Buckeyes in conference history to earn Player and Offensive Player of the Year accolades, respectively. Wilkinson also took home her first Coach of the Year award after guiding the squad to a 5-1 record in conference play and capturing their first-ever outright Big Ten title. Ohio State is currently ranked No. 5 in the latest STX/NFHCA national rankings and enters the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 1 seed.
Schnepf becomes only the third standout in conference history to earn consecutive Defensive Player of the Year, joining former honorees Lorette Vorstman of Northwestern (1988 and 1989) and Michigan's Stephanie Johnson (2002 and 2003). Beamesderfer becomes the third Hawkeye standout in conference history to earn Freshman of the Year accolades as Caitlin McCurdy was honored in 2005 and Tiffany Leister collected the laurel in 1999.
The 2006 All-Big Ten first team features four unanimous selections including Luces, Mueller, Schnepf and Michigan's Mary Fox. Ohio State's Curlyne Wynn collected her third first-team accolade as she was also honored in 2004 and 2005, while Schnepf, Fox, Luces, Indiana's Haley Exner, Morgan Miller and Lydia Schrott and Penn State's Kiersten Wood claimed their second consecutive first-team laurels.
The conference office also announced honorees from each team for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. The student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, the student-athletes must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. Honorees for field hockey are Indiana's Rachel Telian, Iowa's Kara Zappone, Michigan's Jill Civic, Michigan State's Amy Schneider, Northwestern's Lauren Przyborowski, Ohio State's Florencia Stier and Penn State's Casey Maser. These seven student-athletes are now candidates for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, as the conference office will honor one male and one female student-athlete from each institution at the end of the school year.
*2006 All-Big Ten Teams
First Team
Haley Exner, Jr., goalkeeper, IND
Morgan Miller, Sr., defense, IND
Lydia Schrott, Sr., forward, IND
#Heather Schnepf, Sr., defense, IOWA
Lucia Belassi, Jr., forward, MICH
#Mary Fox, Sr., midfield, MICH
#Yesenia Luces, Jr., midfield, OSU
#Saskia Mueller, Sr., defense, OSU
Curlyne Wynn, Sr., forward, OSU
Shaun Banta, Sr., forward, PSU
Annelise Legel, Sr., midfield, PSU
Kiersten Wood, Jr., midfield, PSU
*Second Team
Caitlin McCurdy, So., forward, IOWA
Kadi Sickel, Jr., defense, IOWA
Kara Lentz, Sr., defense, MICH
Paige Laytos, Fr., forward, MICH
Beth Riley, Sr., goalkeeper, MICH
Ashley Pernicano, Sr., midfield, MSU
Floor Rijpma, Fr., forward, MSU
Amanda Care, Jr., midfield, NU
Meghan Small, Sr., midfield, NU
Linda Haussener, Sr., midfield, OSU
Lauren Kruse, Sr., forward, OSU
Jen Long, So., defense, PSU
# unanimous selection
* Additional honorees due to ties
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Saskia Mueller, OSU
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Yesenia Luces, OSU
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Heather Schnepf, IOWA
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Meghan Beamesderfer, IOWA
COACH OF THE YEAR: Anne Wilkinson, OSU
Sportsmanship Award Honorees
Rachel Telian, Jr., IND
Lauren Przyborowski, Sr., NU
Kara Zappone, Sr., IOWA
Florencia Stier, Sr., OSU
Jill Civic, Sr., MICH
Casey Maser, Sr., PSU
Amy Schneider, Jr., MSU
