Ianeta Le`i Named MWC Player of the Year
FORT COLLINS -- Four BYU softball athletes earned All-Mountain West Conference Softball honors today in conjunction with the start of the MWC Softball Championship in Fort Collins, Colo. These awards were selected by the league's six head coaches.
BYU's Ianeta Le`i was named Player of the Year, while San Diego State sophomore Celena Velasquez captured her second consecutive Pitcher of the Year award and Colorado State's Jessica Strickland garnered Freshman of the Year acclaim for the regular season champion Rams. Colorado State's Mary Yori collected her second straight Coach of the Year honor.
Le`i, an Oahu, Hawaii, native, is batting .355 on the season with seven home runs, 34 RBI, 32 runs scored, a slugging percentage of .630 and an on-base percentage of .452. In MWC play, she was second in slugging percentage (.754) and total bases (43), third in batting average (.386), fourth in home runs (five), and fifth in RBI (16) and on-base percentage (.453). Defensively, Le`i turned in a .970 fielding percentage from the first-base position.
"There are many great players in the conference, and I was surprised to be considered one of them," Le`i said.
Le`i also earned All-Conference honors for the second-consecutive season with teammates Brooke Boyce, Debbie Dodds and Paige Paramore all picking up the first All-Conference honors of their BYU careers.
Boyce, from Rocklin, Calif., leads the pitching staff with a 1.74 ERA and posts a 13-8 record on the mound in 137.0 innings pitched. Dodds, from Twin Falls, Idaho, is third on the team in batting average with a .339 and has recorded eight doubles, eight home runs and knocked in 30 RBI. Paramore, from Allen, Texas, leads the team in with a .361 batting average, 53 hits and is tied with a team-high 11 doubles. She also has seven home runs and has brought in 32 RBI for the Cougars.
"I felt we were well represented in the awards, and it's well deserved for all of them," BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. "I'm sure our team feels like those awards were individual, but we won as a team and we lost as a team. While individuals were awarded, it was really a team effort."
The MWC Conference Tournament will begin Thursday, May 13 and runs through Saturday, May 15 at Ram Field on the Colorado State University campus.
The opening game will feature the 3rd-seeded BYU taking on 6th-seeded New Mexico at 9 a.m. on Thursday, May 13. 4th-seeded Utah and 5th-seeded UNLV will be the other opening round game. Top-seeded Colorado State and 2nd-seeded San Diego State will receive opening round byes. The Aztecs will play the winner of BYU and New Mexico at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, while the Rams will go against the winner of Utah and UNLV at 4:30 p.m.
The Mountain West Conference Softball Championship game will be on Saturday, May 15, with the winner receiving an automatic bid into the 2004 NCAA Softball Championship. The MWC will provide live stats during the tournament with a link available on the MWC home page (www.theMWC.com).
The 20-member all-conference team includes five players from Colorado State, four players from BYU, San Diego State, and Utah, two players from UNLV and one from New Mexico.
2004 All-Mountain West Conference Softball Team
Name Team Ht. Yr. Pos. Hometown (Previous School)
Brooke Boyce BYU 5-9So. P Rocklin, Calif. (Del Campo HS)
Debbie Dodds BYU 5-5Jr. OF Twin Falls, Idaho (Twin Falls HS)
*Ianeta Le`i BYU 5-7So. 1B Oahu, Hawaii (Iolani HS)
Paige Paramore BYU 5-9So. C/UT Allen, Texas (Texas-San Antonio)
Kerry Farrell CSU 5-8Jr. C Omaha, Neb. (Millard North HS)
*Megan Masser CSU 5-8Sr. P Pueblo, Colo. (Pueblo County HS)
*Stephanie RobertsCSU 5-3Jr. 2B Parker, Colo. (Chaparral HS)
Jessica StricklandCSU 5-9Fr. P Lakewood, Colo. (Green Mountain HS)
*Ricki Walker CSU 5-8Sr. 1B Aurora, Colo. (Missouri)
Stephanie Kennedy NM 5-5So. 2B Farmington, N.M. (Farmington HS)
Meagan Hartung SDSU 5-6So. SS/OF San Diego, Calif. (Granite Hills HS)
Janna Kovensky SDSU 5-10Sr. OF San Diego, Calif. (Rancho Bernardo HS)
Kelcy Murphy SDSU 5-9Sr. 3B San Diego, Calif. (Rancho Bernardo HS)
*Celena VelasquezSDSU 5-6So. P Tucson, Ariz. (University HS)
Pauline Glenn UNLV 5-4Jr. 3B Tucson, Ariz. (Sahuaro HS)
Lisa Sampson UNLV 5-2Sr. OF Fairfield, Calif. (Fairfield HS)
*Glennis DonnellyUtah 5-10Sr. SS St. Louis, Mo. (St. Louis CC Meremac)
Devina Quintero Utah 5-4Fr. UT Reseda, Calif. (Faith Baptist HS)
Melissa Stahnke Utah 5-8Sr. 3B Ridgefield, Wash. (Ridgefield HS)
*Lynsey Wall Utah 5-6So. C Farmington, Utah (Alta HS)
Player of the Year - Ianeta Le`i, BYU
Pitcher of the Year - Celena Velasquez, San Diego State
Freshman of the Year - Jessica Strickland, Colorado State
Coach of the Year - Mary Yori, Colorado State
*2003 All-MWC Selection