- Tie for Top Honor is Only Second Time in 34-Year History of Collegiate Women Sports Awards -

(BLACK PR WIRE) (June 21, 2010) NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Collegiate Women Sports Awards today announced that for only the second time in its 34-year history two female athletes have tied for the annual Honda-Broderick Cup, its top honor designating the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year. This years winners, both of whom were presented with their prestigious awards at a special ceremony today in Los Angeles at UCLA’s J.D. Morgan Center, are volleyball star Megan Hodge, a senior at Penn State University and basketball standout Maya Moore, a University of Connecticut junior. Both athletes were selected as winners of the Honda-Broderick Cup by voting among 1,000 NCAA member schools and the Board of Directors of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards Program.
Today’s ceremony in Los Angeles was attended by all Top Three finalists for the 2010 award, including both Hodge and Moore as well as track & field distance runner Lisa Koll from Iowa State University.�

Hodge is the first athlete from Penn State University to be honored as Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year, and Moore is the third athlete from the University of Connecticut to receive the award. Last year's Honda-Broderick Cup winner was gymnast Courtney Kupets of the University of Georgia. Previous winners include: basketball superstar Candace Parker (2008), track and field legend Jackie Joyner-Kersee (1985), soccer great Mia Hamm (1994) and volleyball star Misty May (1999).�

The Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year award recognizes not only outstanding athletic achievement but also team contributions, scholastics and community involvement. This year’s tie marks only the second time that two athletes have received the Honda-Broderick Cup in the same year. In 1984, the award went to both swimmer Tracy Caulkins from the University of Florida and basketball player Cheryl Miller from the University of Southern California.

Judith R. Holland, co-founder and executive director of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards, noted: This years history-making tie for our top award is highly unusual. And while it is extremely rare for us to have a tie for Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year, in this case it is quite fortuitous, as we are delighted to be able to give the award to two such outstanding athletes and exemplary young women as Maya and Megan. They are both very worthy recipients and we are proud to have them join our legacy.

Megan Hodge: Team Leader of Undefeated Season
Outside hitter Hodge is a native of the U.S. Virgin Islands who grew up in Durham, North Carolina. During her career, she led the Nittany Lions to their second undefeated season and third straight NCAA championship title in 2009, winning 102 straight matches. Her average of 4.67 kills per set (560 kills total) led the Big Ten and earned her an eighth place national ranking. She ranked second on her team in digs with 295 (2.46 per set). She is one of only two players ever to reach 2000 career kills at Penn State, with 2,142 total, and she amassed a career win/loss record of 142-5. Her win/loss career percentage of .966 is the best in NCAA Division I women’s volleyball history for classes that have won national titles. Hodge was chosen AVCA Division I National Player of the Year by the American Volleyball Coaches Association and is a four-time AVCA First-Team All-American. She was selected as the Big Ten Player of the Year in 2009 for the second time, the first as a freshman in 2006. She was also honored as CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year. Megan graduated with a business management degree and is currently a member of the 2010 U.S. Women’s Volleyball Team. Her parents, Michael and Carmen, are both former members of the Virgin Islands National Volleyball team.
Maya Moore: First Junior in UConn History to Score Over 2000 Points
Moore, a native of Jefferson City, Missouri, grew up in Lawrenceville, Georgia. She helped her team achieve an NCAA record of 78 consecutive wins over two seasons, as well as its sixth undefeated season and second straight NCAA National Championship. Moore ended the season averaging 18.9 points and 8.3 rebounds, and scored in double figures 34 times. She finished the 2009-2010 season with 736 points, the second most points scored in a season by a UConn player (the most was 754 pts in 2008-09, also achieved by Moore herself). So far in her career Moore has scored 2168 points, with 963 rebounds and 243 three-pointers. She is also the first junior in the programs history to score over 2000 points. She received both the 2010 NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player and Dayton Regional’s Most Outstanding Player award and is a three-time AP First Team All-American. A Sports Marketing and Media major with a 3.85 GPA, she has been honored this year as the Big East Scholar Athlete of the Year, ESPN Academic All-America of the Year, CoSIDA Academic First-Team, 2010 Wade Trophy winner and Wooden Award finalist.

Other Honors Presented in Los Angeles
In addition to the annual Honda-Broderick Cup, the Collegiate Women Sports Awards Program also presented its annual Honda Inspiration Award to a deserving collegiate female athlete at the Los Angeles ceremony. This years recipient is Antoinette Cobb from Zachary, Louisiana, a track star at Louisiana Tech University who was forced to withdraw from classes for two quarters and forego track her entire sophomore year due to stage III colon cancer. Cobb courageously came back to become the seventh best 100-meter hurdler in the country and earned four WAC titles in her junior and senior years.

The program also honored top athletes from both NCAA Division II and Division III colleges. Concordia University volleyball setter Maggie McNamara from Zumbrota, Minnesota, was named Honda Award Division II Athlete of the Year. She led her team to an undefeated season this year, as well as to a three-peat third straight national title and a fourth NSIC crown. In her senior year of competition, she sealed her name in the NCAA record book as the all-time leading setter, putting up a new record for career assists with 7,351.For the fourth season in her career, McNamara led the nation in assists per set, this year with a mark of 13.26.

The Honda Award Division III Athlete of the Year went to Bethel University track & field standout Marie Borner from Cottage Grove, Minnesota. She capped her remarkable senior season by earning National Championships in the indoor mile, with a time of 4:50.20, as well as the outdoor 1500-meter (4:23.85) and outdoor 800-meter (2:06.87). She was also the MIAC champion in the 800-meter and 1500-meter, setting a stadium record in both races. She set a meet record in the 800-meter in the 2010 NCAA Division III National Championships. In all, she holds 10 school records.

Individual Honda Sports Award winners, in each of the 12 sports in addition to the Top Three included: University of Illinois Angela Bizzarri for cross country, Katie O'Donnell from the University of Maryland for field hockey, Whitney Engen from the University of North Carolina for soccer, Julia Smit from Stanford University for swimming & diving, Susan Jackson from Louisiana State University for Gymnastics, Caroline Hedwall of Oklahoma State University for golf, Caitlyn McFadden of the University of Maryland for lacrosse, Laura Vallverdu of the University of Miami for tennis and Danielle Lawrie of the University of Washington for softball.

Highlights from the Los Angeles ceremony will be available for free and unrestricted use via satellite newsfeed on Monday, June 21 from 3:00 3:30 pm (PDT) & 4:30 4:45 pm (PDT). Satellite coordinates are as follows: C-Band Analog / Galaxy 19 / Transponder 20 / Downlink 4100 Horizontal / Audio 6.2, 6.8
American Honda Motor Co., Inc. has sponsored the Collegiate Women Sports Awards Program for 24 consecutive years. Honda has donated over $2 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees over the course of the program. See www.hondaawards.com for more information.

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Source: American Honda Motor Co., Inc.