Four Wolverines Make STX/NFHCA All-Region First Team

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The National Field Hockey Coaches Association announced today (Monday, Nov. 18) that four University of Michigan field hockey players -- junior forward April Fronzoni (Larksville, Pa./Wyoming Valley West HS), junior defenders Kristi Gannon (Escondido, Calif./San Pasqual HS) and Stephanie Johnson (Houston, Texas/The Kinkaid School) and senior forward Molly Powers (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park-River Forest HS) -- have been named to the STX/NFHCA Division I All-West Region first team. Senior forward/midfielder Jessica Rose (Lititz, Pa./Warwick HS) also earned NFHCA All-Region honors as one of 16 members on the West Region's second team.

April Fronzoni has been an All-Region first teamer in each of her three seasons.

A candidate for the Honda-Broderick Award as the nation's top field hockey player, Fronzoni received All-West Region first team recognition for the third straight year after leading the Wolverines with a career-high 18 goals and four assists for 40 points. Fronzoni, the Big Ten Conference's Athlete and Offensive Player of the Year, is the second Michigan played to earn first-team all-region honors three times, joining Kelli Gannon (1997-2000), who was named to the team in 1998, 1999 and 2000.

Powers and Gannon, members of the All-Big Ten first team, ranked second and fourth on the team in scoring, respectively, during the 2002 campaign. Powers, the fifth-ranked goal scorer in Michigan history, netted 15 goals to finish second on the team while Gannon, a second-team All-West Region selection last year, tallied six goals and 10 assists to move into U-M's career top 10 in both categories. Johnson, the Big Ten's Defensive Player of the Year, improved upon her second-team All-West Region showing last season with a career-high 13 goals to rank third on the team.

With their first-team All-Region status, Fronzoni, Gannon, Johnson and Powers are candidates for the STX/NFHCA All-America team. The group will be announced on Monday, Nov. 25, a day after the conclusion of the NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship in Louisville, Ky.

Rose, the Wolverines' only second-team pick, received All-Region honors for the first time in her career after tallying six goals and two assists for 14 points. A four-year starter for the Wolverines, Rose finished her career with 26 goals and 11 assists for 63 points in 93 games.

Michigan (18-4, 6-0 Big Ten) concluded the 2002 campaign last weekend, falling to Princeton in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in State College, Pa. The Wolverines, who made their fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance, finished the season as the second-ranked team in the country and captured the Big Ten regular-season title.

Contact: Paul Thomas (734) 763-4423

University of Michigan Athletics

Players Mentioned

April Fronzoni

Kristi Gannon

Stephanie Johnson

Molly Powers

Jessica Rose

Related Videos