Rockwood, Peterson, Cramer Take Top Honors On Opening Day Of MWC Tourney

Las Vegas, Nev. (Nov. 1, 2000) Head Coach Jennifer Rockwood was recognized as the Coach of the Year, senior midfielder Michelle Peterson was named MWC Player of the Year and Aleisha Cramer was honored as the conference's Freshman of the Year, Wednesday on the first day of competition at the MWC Women's Soccer Championships.

Rockwood led the 9th ranked BYU team to a 16-3-1 overall record and went undefeated in conference play at 6-0. Coach Rockwood became the first MWC coach to eclipse the 100-win total on Sept. 23 with a 2-0 victory over Milwaukee-Wisconsin. At the start of the 2000 season, Rockwood was ranked fifth among active coaches by winning percentage. She has averaged 18.6 wins per season over the past five years, which ranks second behind only Anson Dorrance of North Carolina for wins per season.

Peterson a senior from Salt Lake City, Utah (Olympus HS) was named MWC Player of the Year by the league's seven head coaches. Peterson leads the BYU offense with 14 goals and nine assists for her 37 points to date. In the conference she leads in total points with 34 and was tied for first in assists (4), and second in both goals (5) and points (14). Peterson has tallied to hat tricks on the season and was named MWC Player of the Week three times.

Cramer, a freshman from Lakewood, Colo (Green Mountain HS) started in five of six conference games tallying four goals and four assists for her 12 points. Cramer and SDSU's Kim Castellanos were selected as Co-Freshmen of the Year.

Five other BYU players were also honored. Seniors Staci Reynolds and Sara Reading were named to the All-Mountain West Conference First Team while seniors Athelia Graham, Natalyn Lewis and Kim Lowe were named to the Second Team.

Peterson and Cramer also made the All-MWC First Team.

The number one seeded Cougar women open MWC play Thursday night against Air Force, who defeated hosts UNLV 3-1 in first round action Wednesday. In other first round games, SDSU beat UNM 3-0 and Utah beat Wyoming 4-0. All soccer games will be played on the UNLV campus at Peter Johann Memorial Field.

2000 All-Mountain West Conference Women's Soccer Teams

First Team

Beth Boyer, AF (MF, 5-3 Jr)

Aleisha Cramer, BYU (MF/D, 5-10 Fr)

Michelle Peterson, BYU (F, 5-5 Sr)

Sara Reading, BYU (MF, 5-5 Sr)

Staci Reynolds, BYU (D, 5-5 Sr)

Jayme Dieringer, UNM (D, 5-8, Sr)

Kim Castellanos, SDSU (F, 5-2 Fr)

Fay deLeon, SDSU (D, 5-3 Jr)

Janae Sims, UNLV (F, 5-5 Jr)

Amy Kofoed, UTAH (F, 5-6 Jr)

Linnea Quinones, SDSU (GK, 5-7 Jr)

Second Team

Jennie Schoeck, AF (MF, 5-9 Sr)

Athelia Graham, BYU (D, 5-6 Sr)

Natalyn Lewis, BYU (MF, 5-2 Sr)

Kim Lowe, BYU (F, 5-6 Sr)

Jamie Minkler, UNM (D, 5-6 Jr)

Anita Pedford, UNLV (F, 5-4 Jr)

Lesa Zollinger, UTAH (D, 5-5 So)

Shauna Gurr, UTAH (F, 5-6 So)

Katie Tate, UTAH (F, 5-8, So)

Kelly McShane, WYO (F, 5-9 Sr)

Courtney Hills, UTAH (GK, 5-7 So)

Player of the Year - Michelle Peterson, BYU

Freshman of the Year - Aleisha Cramer, BYU/Kim Castellanos, SDSU

Coach of the Year - Jennifer Rockwood, BYU