Fronzoni, Brannen Named Michigan Athletes of the Year
7/17/2003 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey, General, Men's Cross Country, Men's Track & Field
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan Athletic Department announced field hockey junior forward April Fronzoni (Larksville, Pa./Wyoming Valley West HS) and sophomore distance runner Nate Brannen (Cambridge, Ontario/Preston) as its 2002-03 Male and Female Athletes of the Year today (Thursday, July 17). The pair were also nominated for the Big Ten Conference Suzy Favor Female and Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year awards.
Brannen
Fronzoni
One of four finalists for the Honda Award honoring the best field hockey player in NCAA Division I, Fronzoni led U-M with a career-high 40 points in 2002, including a team-best 18 goals. An STX/NFHCA All-American, Fronzoni was named the Big Ten's 2002 Field Hockey Athlete of the Year, marking the first Wolverine sticker to earn the honor, and was the Big Ten's Offensive Player of the Year as well.
Fronzoni was a unanimous selection to the All-Big Ten first team and received Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors twice during the 2002 campaign.
A four-time NCAA All-American in 2002-03, Brannen began his brilliant year with the 2002 cross country season in which he led Michigan to an eighth-place finish at the NCAA Championships, earning All-America honors with a 22nd-place showing. In the indoor track season, Brannen won the NCAA title in the 800-meter run, setting an indoor school record (1:47.78) in the process of winning the Maize and Blue's first track national championship since 1998.
Also a part of U-M's distance medley relay, Brannen helped the quartet place third at the NCAA Indoor Championships with a school-record time of 9:29.76. He also became the fifth U-M athlete to run a sub-4:00 mile with his win at the Meyo Invitational (Feb. 2, 2003). The time of 3:57.96 is the second fastest mile mark in U-M history. Brannen capped off the 2002-03 season with a fifth-place, All-America finish in the 800 meters at the outdoor NCAA meet.
Players Mentioned
