USA Field Hockey News

Maryland's Paula Infante Named Field Hockey Honda Award Winner

University of Maryland senior Paula Infante has been named the recipient of the Honda Sports Award as nation’s top collegiate female field hockey athlete for the second straight year. The honor was based on the results of national balloting among 1,000 NCAA member schools as part of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards program, now in its 31^st year.

The Honda Sports Award is given annually to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports, along with automatic nomination for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year.  Infante topped a field hockey ballot that included Lauren Crandall, a senior Wake Forest University; Lizzy Peijs, a junior at the University of Connecticut and Amy Stopford, a senior at Duke University.  The candidates were selected by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association.

A native of Santiago, Chile, Infante led the Terps to a second straight NCAA title this year while earning First Team All-American and First Team All-NCAA Tournament for a fourth consecutive time.  Infante was named All-Mid Atlantic Region and named Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Defensive Player of the Year for the second time.  She posted 12 goals (five of which were game-winning goals) and earned 30 points this season, finishing her college career with 58 career goals and 139 points.  She was also named ALL-ACC and All-Region for the fourth year in a row.  Infante was voted National Player of the Year and is a three-time Honda Sports Award nominee.

Infante's coach, Missy Meharg, was the 1984 field hockey Honda Sports Award winner from the University of Delaware.  Meharg was chosen this year for the second straight time by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) as Division I Regional Coach of the Year. 

The first Honda Sports Award recipient for this year, Texas Tech’s Sally Kipyego, was named last week for cross-country.  Honda Sports Award winners in basketball, golf, gymnastics, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, volleyball, and track & field will be announced in the coming months. The Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year will be determined by separate balloting involving all NCAA-member institutions and the winner will receive the Honda-Broderick Cup at Columbia University in New York in late June 2007.

American Honda Motor Co., Inc. sponsors the Collegiate Women Sports Awards Program.  

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