The winners of the 2001-02 WCHA women’s league awards were announced tonight at the annual WCHA Women’s Awards Banquet.
The WCHA Player of the Year is Minnesota junior Ronda Curtin. The defender led the league in overall and conference scoring during the regular season with 45 and 38 points, respectively. The Roseville, Minn., native was a three-time WCHA Player of the Week. Also named this season’s WCHA Defensive Player of the Year, Curtin leads the nation’s defenders in scoring.
Guylaine Hache won Bemidji State’s second consecutive WCHA Student Athlete of the Year award. The sophomore forward ranks 13th overall and second on her team with 31 points on 14 goals and 17 assists. She is tied for 11th in the league in goal scoring, all games, and has 22 points on nine goals and 13 assists in conference games to tie for 13th. A chemistry major, Hache boasts a 3.90 grade-point average.
Ohio State’s Jeni Creary earned the WCHA Rookie of the Year Award. Creary led the conference scoring race for much of the year and finished the regular season ranked second with 44 points. The two-time WCHA Rookie of the Week led the league with 26 goals and 12 power-play goals.
WCHA Coach of the Year was Minnesota’s Laura Halldorson. Co-winner last year, Halldorson led the Gophers to their second consecutive league regular season title. Minnesota went 26-3-5 oveall and 19-2-3 in league play. Minnesota went a stretch of 24 games without a loss during the season and won the league by six points, the most in three years of the WCHA’s existence.
The All-WCHA First and Second Team was announced during the banquet, as was the WCHA All-Academic squad.
Voting for the WCHA awards was done by the conference head coaches coaches and sports information directors. The WCHA Defensive Player of the Year Award was chosen solely by the head coaches, while the WCHA Student-Athlete of the Year was chosen by institutional representatives.
Player of the Year
Ronda Curtin, Minnesota
Student-Athlete of the Year
Guylaine Hache, Bemidji State
Defensive Player of the Year
Ronda Curtin, Minnesota
Rookie of the Year
Jeni Creary, Ohio State
Coach of the Year
Laura Halldorson, Minnesota
2001-02 All-WCHA First Team
F Jeni Creary, Ohio State, Fr. (Shell Lake, Sask.)
F Meghan Hunter, Wisconsin, So. (Oil Springs, Ont.)
F Maria Rooth, Minnesota-Duluth, Jr. (Angelholm, Sweden)
D Ronda Curtin, Minnesota, Jr. (Roseville, Minn.)
D Kerry Weiland, Wisconsin, Jr. (Palmer, Alaska)
G Jody Horak, Minnesota, Fr. (Blaine, Minn.)
2001-02 All-WCHA Second Team
F Amber Fryklund, Bemidji State, Jr. (Hibbing, Minn.)
F Erika Holst, Minnesota-Duluth, Jr. (Varberg, Sweden)
F Kelly Stephens, Minnesota, Fr. (Shoreline, Wash.)
D Emma Laaksonen, Ohio State, So. (Espoo, Finland)
D Kobi Kawamoto, St. Cloud State, So. (Surrey, B.C.)
G Jackie MacMillan, Wisconsin, Jr. (Buffalo, Minn.)
