Former UConn guard Renee Montgomery was named one of five finalists for the Honda-Broderick Cup.

Montgomery was one of the 12 candidates before the list was cut down to the final five for the premier female collegiate student-athlete. Lisa Fernandez, a former pitcher/third baseman for the Stratford-based Brakettes softball program will present the award to the winner at a luncheon on June 22 in New York.

Here is the release

FIVE FINALISTS NAMED FOR 2009 HONDA-BRODERICK CUP

-- Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year to be Announced on June 22nd --

New York, NY, June 15, 2009 —
The Collegiate Women’s Sports Awards today announced the five finalists for the prestigious Honda-Broderick Cup, its annual top honor designating the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year. This year’s finalists are, in alphabetical order: Jennifer Barringer, University of Colorado (track and field); Nicole Fawcett, Penn State University (volleyball); Courtney Kupets, University of Georgia (gymnastics); Danielle Lawrie, University of Washington (softball); and Renee Montgomery, University of Connecticut (basketball).

The finalists were chosen from previously announced Honda Sports Award winners in 12 different NCAA-sanctioned sports, by a vote from among more than 1,000 NCAA-member institutions. The winner will be named at a special press conference on June 22nd at Columbia University in New York, where she will be presented with her award by softball legend Lisa Fernandez, winner of the Honda-Broderick Cup in 1993.

Career Highlights of the Final Five

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.

Renne 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.

Other Honors to Be Presented on June 22nd

In addition to the annual Honda-Broderick Cup, the Collegiate Women’s Sports Awards Program also presents its annual “ Honda Inspiration Award” to a deserving collegiate female athlete.
This year’s recipient is Nicole Hester, a star basketball player at Drexel University who was forced to withdraw from classes and miss an entire basketball season due to Hodgkin’s Lymphoma but courageously came back and this year led her team to a school-record 24 wins, including a 16-2 record in conference play and their first-ever berth in the NCAA Tournament.

The program also honors “Athletes of the Year” from both NCAA Division II and Division III colleges.
Lock Haven University softball pitcher Kristin Erb won the Division II award for the second time, having received it as a freshman in 2006. She capped her college pitching career by leading the Lady Eagles to their second National Championship in four years, pitching a 50-5 season with a 0.47 ERA and finishing with a 168-18 record, the most victories for a Division II pitcher. She will play professionally for the Philadelphia Force.

The Division III Athlete of the Year Award goes to Hardin-Simmons University track and field standout Ashley Huston. In her senior year at Hardin-Simmons, Huston won both the indoor pentathlon and outdoor heptathlon NCAA Championship titles as well as the NCAA outdoor long jump title. She set a new meet record at the outdoor championship of 5,244 points by winning the heptathlon and also won the long jump.

Last year’s Honda-Broderick Cup winner was basketball superstar and previous two-time Honda Sports Award winner (2007, 2008) Candace Parker of the University of Tennessee. Other past winners of the Honda-Broderick Cup include some of the most talented and accomplished collegiate athletes in recent history: Jackie Joyner-Kersee (track & field, 1984); Mia Hamm (soccer, 1994), Cheryl Miller (basketball, 1983), Ann Meyers (1978, basketball), Tracy Caulkins (1982, 1984, swimming & diving), Chamique Holdsclaw (basketball, 1998) and Lisa Fernandez (softball, 1993). In 2001, Joyner-Kersee was honored as the “Top Collegiate Woman Athlete for the Past 25 Years.”

American Honda Motor Co., Inc. sponsors the Collegiate Women Sports Awards Program.