June 18, 2008

North Carolina's Rachel Dawson, the 2007 field hockey national player of the year, is among five finalists for the prestigious Honda-Broderick Cup as the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year. Three of the finalists are from the Atlantic Coast Conference: Dawson, Duke golfer Amanda Blumenherst and Virginia Tech softball player Angela Tincher. Tennessee basketball player Candace Parker and Arizona State track and field athlete Jacquelyn Johnson round out the top five.

The finalists were chosen from previously-announced Honda Sports Award winners in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports by a vote from among more than 1,000 NCAA-member institutions. The winner will be named at a press conference on June 23rd at Columbia University in New York.

A native of Berlin, N.J., Dawson led the Tar Heels to NCAA and ACC titles in 2007, when the team finished 24-0. She was selected as the ACC Defensive Player of the Year for the second time in her career and also was named ACC Tournament MVP. Dawson, a two-time first-team All-America selection, is the third Carolina field hockey player to win the Honda Award, following Leslie Lyness in 1989 and Cindy Werley in 1996 and 1997.

A business major and Dean's List student with a 3.6 GPA, Dawson graduated with distinction from UNC in December. She has been named the 2007 ACC Scholar-Athlete for field hockey and recently was honored as an Academic All-America.

Dawson is now playing full-time with the U.S. National Team and was named Player of the Tournament as the Americans won an Olympic qualifying tournament in Russia in April to earn a spot in the Summer Games in Beijing.