Katie O’Donnell Named ACC Athlete of the Year

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Maryland field hockey standout Katie O’Donnell is the recipient of the Mary Garber Award, given to the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Female Athlete of the Year. She received 28 of the 43 votes cast by the members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association. She becomes the third field hockey player to win the Garber, joining Wake Forest’s Kelly Dostal (2005) and Paula Infante of Maryland (2006). Other Terrapins with Garber plaques are Jen Adams (2000, 01) and Sarah Forbes (2007), both of whom played lacrosse, and Kelly Amonte, a lacrosse and soccer star.

O’Donnell received the 2009 and 2010 Honda Sports Awards, the honor given to the nation’s top field hockey player. She is the only player in NCAA field hockey history distinguished as both a four-time first-team All-American and four-time ACC Offensive Player of the Year. In the 2010 season, O’Donnell sparked the Terrapins to the NCAA and ACC titles, a 23-1 overall record and a No. 1 national ranking in the final NFHCA Top 20 poll. She is the ACC’s career points and assists leader and leaves Maryland with 99 total college career goals, just three goals shy of the ACC’s all-time goal record. At the NCAA Tournament, she became the first player in history to record her second hat trick in a national semifinal game.

A native of Blue Bell, Pa., she was named the NFHCA Division I National Player of the Year and was also named National Player of the Year and Offensive MVP by womensfieldhockey.com for the third consecutive year. In September 2010, O’Donnell was named the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Sportswoman of the Year, an award previously won by Mia Hamm and Lisa Leslie.

O’Donnell led the nation in points (99) and assists (34) this year, making her the first player in NCAA history to break the 100 career assist and the 300 career point marks.

In her career, she guided Maryland to two NCAA titles (2008, 2010) and three ACC titles (2008, 2009, 2010). She was named to the NCAA All-Tournament team three times (2008, 2009, 2010). O’Donnell was voted the ACC Tournament MVP in 2009 and 2010 and was named to the ACC All-Tournament team in all four years of her career. “I am so honored to receive this award because there are so many talented female athletes in the ACC. This is the best conference in the country and to receive the Garber Award is truly a highlight to my career,” O’Donnell said. “Thank you to my coaches, teammates, family, competitors and all of the field hockey supporters for making ACC field hockey the best. I will continue to work hard to represent the great program of Maryland field hockey and the ACC in the 2012 Olympics.”

Bruce: I was proud to cast my vote for Katie

Uncategorized
There Are No Responses to this Post

No comments have been posted yet, be the first!

Post a comment by filling out the form below.

Write a Comment!










Message


YoungTerps Tweets

Terp Talk Tweets


Bruce Posner Tweets


Sponsors

Viener Consulting

Saiontz and Kirk

Dr Jeffrey Gaber and Associates
Never Miss a Terp Beat!

Enter your email address: