The 2000-01 year has been - if quietly - the Year of the Woman on campus at Arizona. Whether it's the Olympic medalist swimmer or the WNBA draftee, the female athlete has provided UA fans with plenty of thrills this season.
Amanda Beard - The Wildcats' top female swimmer, bronze medalist Beard helped her team take home a second-place finish at the 2001 Pacific 10 Championships, where she placed third in the 200 yard Individual Medley. The sophomore then lead her team to fifth place in the NCAA Championships with a second-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke.
Reshea Bristol - Bristol, drafted by the WNBA's Charlotte Sting this weekend, led the Wildcats to a 20-12 record this season, averaging 15.6 points per game. Along with leading the Pacific 10 Conference, Bristol finished the year seventh in the nation in assists, averaging 7.6 per game. The Omaha, Neb., native set new school records in both single-season steals (96) and career steals (260).
Dana Burkholder - The Arizona women's volleyball team was led by Burkholder, a junior setter who helped the Wildcats finish a program-best No. 5 in the nation.
During her 2000 campaign, the junior was named an All-American en route to becoming the first Wildcat to be honored as Pacific 10 Conference Player of the Year.
Tara Chaplin - Chaplin, the Pacific 10 Conference's cross country champion, also received Pac-10 academic honors with her 3.45 GPA. Chaplin, slowed by the flu at the end of the season, still managed to be the team's top finisher in its regional meet, which qualified the Wildcats for the national championship race.
Jennie Finch - On a team with so many offensive weapons, including lead-off hitter Lauren Bauer and home run leader Toni Mascarenas, junior Jennie Finch has led the team in another way - pitching.
Finch leads the nation with a 0.28 ERA and has not allowed an earned run in a Pacific-10 Conference game so far.
Her accomplishments this season include a no-hitter against No. 14 Oregon State and a shut-out of then-No. 1 UCLA.
She also logged a pair of wins against Arizona State and a shutout victory against both No. 3 Stanford and No. 4 California. Offensively, Finch is fourth on the team with 11 home runs and 42 RBIs.
Kara Fry - The plucky senior ended her career with a second appearance at the National Championships, where she competed among the best in the all-around finals.
Fry was also named to the 2001 All-Pacific 10 Conference team in the all-around. She won 12 individual event championships this year, including four all-around titles. Fry also earned the 2001 title of South Central Regional Gymnast of the Year.
Brianna Glenn - The junior sprinter's season has been one of continual top-notch accomplishments. At the National Indoor Championships, Glenn finished third in the 60-meter dash and fourth in the long jump, earning All-American honors for both. The junior was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation's Athlete of the Year for the second year in a row.
Cassidy Guinn - The anchor on defense for the UA women's soccer team, Guinn started 18 of 20 matches during the season and emerged as one of the primary rebuilders of a program that suffered a disastrous 1999. Though Guinn took just one shot during the season, her senior leadership earned her the team's Player of the Year honors.
Debbie Larocque - The surprising freshman found herself elevated into the team's No. 1 singles position after senior Michelle Gough struggled. She won a team-best 22 matches this year and - according to head coach Brad Dancer - she has just scratched the surface of her talents. The freshman has been a bright spot on a team that lost its No. 1 singles player - Lindsay Blau - to the University of Texas.
Lorena Ochoa - The freshman golfer has not taken long to establish herself as one of the premier players in the collegiate ranks. She entered the 2000-01 season as Arizona's top recruit and has been ranked the No. 1 golfer in the country for almost the entire year. At the Pac-10 Championships this week, she beat fellow UA freshman phenom Natalie Gulbis in a playoff for the individual championship.
