Hyrne, Robertson Collect All-America Awards
6/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Water Polo
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The American Water Polo Coaches Association announced Wednesday (June 18) that junior Julie Hyrne(Sunnyvale, Calif./Archbishop Mitty) and sophomore Leah Robertson(Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor) of the University of Michigan women's water polo team were selected for All-America honors in recognition of their play during the 2008 season. Hyrne was elected to the third team while Robertson scored honorable mention status.
Hyrne led the explosive Wolverine offense with 66 goals and 97 points en route to her first All-America selection. Hyrne's goal and pointnumbers both account for the fifth-highest single-season total in program history and helped her move into second on both categories career list. Hyrne chalked up a program first during the 2008 campaign, becoming the only U-M player to take home both the CWPA Western Division MVP award and the CWPA Eastern Championship MVP award in the same season.
Robertson earned her first All-America award after setting both the U-M single-season and career steals records in 2008. She shattered her old thefts record with 121 steals during the campaign, upping her career totals to 230. She also finished third on the team in scoring with a career-high 78 points (43g, 35 a). Robertson was the only Wolverine to earn all-tournament honors in each of the three postseason championships, picking up first team honors at the CWPA Western Division Championships and CWPA Eastern Championships and an NCAA All-Tournament second team selection.
The AWPCA selects first, second and third teams for its Division I All-America awards. For voting, players receive three points for a first team nomination, two points for a second team nomination, and one point for a third team nomination. A player may earn honorable mention if she receives votes from two schools, excluding her own.
The duo played a crucial role in Michigan establishing new team records for victories (34), longest winning streak (27 games), goals (501), assists (406), points (906), drawn ejections (300) and steals (689). The Wolverines finished with No. 10 national ranking and advanced to the NCAA Championship for the third time in program history.
NO T E S
Julie Hyrne became the third Wolverine to earn All-America status above honorable mention. Betsey Armstrong (2002-05) was named to the second team in 2004 and joined Shana Welch (2004-07) on the third team in 2005.
Leah Robertson became the seventh U-M player to reach All-America honorable mention status.
Robertson carries on the tradition of NCAA All-Tournament players being named All-American. She joins Jen Crisman (2001-02), Armstrong and Sheetal Narsai (2002-05) on the list. Robertson was selected to the second team as U-M finished sixth at the 2008 NCAA Championship.
U-M's two selections were tied for the most for any team outside of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
AWPCA Division I All-America Teams
FIRST TEAM
Lauren Silver, Stanford
Jillian Kraus, UCLA
Courtney Mathewson, UCLA
Veronika Bartunkova, USC
Kelly Mason, Hawaii
Addison McGrath, ASU
Tumua Anae, USC
Coach of the Year: Adam Krikorian, UCLA
Player of the Year: Courtney Mathewson, UCLA
SECOND TEAM
Jackie Gauthier, Stanford
Christi Raycraft, UC Davis
Tanya Gandy, UCLA
Jenna Schuster, San Diego State University
Molly Hayes, California, Berkeley
Brittany Fullen, UCLA
Nicole Hughes, LMU
THIRD TEAM
Brittany Rowe, UCLA
Miranda Nichols, USC
Michelle Stein, USC
Julie Hyrne, Michigan
Amber Oland, Stanford
Angela Turnbull, Hawaii
Katie Rulon, UCLA
HONORABLE MENTION
Kirsten Hudson, Hartwick
Anna Gonzales, San Diego State University
Beth Harberts, San Jose State University
Juliet Moss, San Jose State University
Amanda Ortiz, CSU Bakersfield
Leah Robertson, Michigan
Allison Brookes, Cal State Northridge
Gabrielle Domanic, UCLA
Kelly Eaton, Stanford
Caylinn Wallace, ASU
Caylinn Wallace, ASU
Dayna Wawrzynski, Long Beach State
Valentina Rozas, Bucknell
Laura Uribe, UC Davis
Alex Wike, LMU
Lisa Van Raalte, Hawaii
Brooke Zimmerman, Indiana
Heather Stuart, California, Berkeley
Phoebe Champion, Princeton
Maggie Hatcher, Marist
Natalie Kim, Princeton
Lindsay Kiyama, UC Davis
Chelsea Curran, Cal State Northridge
Billy Hoelck, Wagner College
Kelly Phelps, ASU
Jillian Stapf, Cal State Northridge
Blaise Stanicic, University of Maryland
Veronica Campbell, CSU Bakersfield
Contact: Ryan Sosin (734) 763-4423
