Press Release courtesy of Colorado Athletics
The Sportswomen of Colorado will honor six University of Colorado athletes in March for their outstanding 2017 performances in their respective sports. CU’s recipients include: Sarah Brown (lacrosse), Petra Hyncicova (skiing), Dani Jones (cross country), Kennedy Leonard (basketball), Alexa Smith (volleyball) and Jalen Tompkins (soccer).
Individual bios for each athlete are listed below alphabetically:
Sarah Brown, Lacrosse
Brown earned the program’s first IWLCA Second Team All-American honor after an outstanding 2017 season. Brown led the team in caused turnovers with 33, breaking the single season record of 29 that she set in 2016, and ranked second in the MPSF and 52nd in the NCAA for caused turnovers per game (1.65). In the 19 games she started, Brown had 39 ground balls and 41 draw controls, finishing second on the team for both. Brown’s quick defensive clears sparked the team’s transition and showed her capabilities as an offensive threat. Her performance during the season earned her a number of honors, including spots on the All-MPSF First Team, MPSF All-Tournament Team and IWLCA All-West/Midwest Region First Team. A good student, Brown was also selected to the MPSF All-Academic Team.
Petra Hyncicova, Skiing
Hyncicova was named the 2017 women’s Nordic National Skier of the Year by both the USCSCA and FasterSkier.com. Last winter, she became just the 15th female skier — and fourth from CU — to sweep the Nordic races at the NCAA Championships, capturing the 5K classic and the 15k freestyle titles. For the 2017 season, the native of the Czech Republic won five races and placed no lower than fifth in eight races. In late January 2018, she was named to the 2018 Czech Republic Olympic team in the Nordic skiing, becoming the 35th CU ski team member to make it to the Olympics.
Dani Jones, Cross Country
Jones led the Buffs in four of its five varsity races, and picked up several awards and honors in the process. In the first varsity meet of the season, Jones place third overall at the Joe Piane Invitational. She was third again at the NCAA Pre-National Invitational before going on to take the individual crown at the Pac-12 Championships, earning herself Pac-12 Female Cross Country Athlete Of The Year honors. With the victory, Jones became the first Buff, male or female, to win an individual Pac-12 Cross Country title. She was the first female to win a cross country title since 2009 when Jenny Barringer Simpson took home the Big 12 title. The NCAA Mountain Region Championship was the only race Jones did not lead CU – there she tied for 12th with her teammate Sage Hurta – as the second and third Buffs to finish the race. Jones went on to finish 10th individually at the NCAA Championships, the best finish for a Buff since Shalaya Kipp’s ninth place finish in 2013. Jones recorded all-region and All-America honors for her final two races.
Kennedy Leonard, Basketball
Leonard earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors from both the coaches and the media after averaging 17.1 points, 5.8 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 2.4 steals, while starting all 33 games as a sophomore. She also shot 73.3 percent at the line and had season totals of 563 points (seventh-best in CU history), 100 rebounds and 80 steals (eighth-best; most ever for a sophomore). Most impressively, Leonard broke CU’s single-season assists record with 190 on the year, passing Ann Troyan’s previous mark of 177 from the 1979-80 season. She finished the season ranked second in the Pac-12 in assists and steals, and fourth in scoring and assist/turnover ratio (1.90). Leonard led the Buffs to a win over No. 15/19 Kentucky with 14 points and 12 assists. She scored a career-high 31 points, hitting 7-of-11 3-point field goals and adding seven assists in a win over Colorado State.
Alexa Smith, Volleyball
CU’s first AVCA Second Team All-American, Smith collected awards all season as she helped the Buffs to a 24-10 record that included their first NCAA Sweet 16 appearance in 20 years. She was also named to the AVCA All-Pacific South Region and All-Pac-12 teams. A great leader on and off the court, Smith ranked seventh in the Pac-12 with a team-best 3.97 kills per set and was also seventh in points per set with 4.35. She was second for CU in digs, averaging 2.83 per set and added 0.38 blocks per set while hitting .241. Smith totaled 484 kills this campaign, the sixth most in CU’s single season history, and was named the team’s offensive MVP for the second straight season. During the season, she was named to the Nike Invitational All-Tournament Team, was the Omni Invitational MVP and was selected the Pac-12 Offensive and VolleyMob.com National Player of the Week on Sept. 18.
Jalen Tompkins, Soccer
Selected as a team captain, Tompkins put together the best season in CU history for a goalkeeper, leading the Buffs to the second round of the NCAA Tournament as they broke school records for shutouts (14) and goals-against average (0.61). She was named third-team All-Pac-12 and United Soccer Coaches third-team All-West Region. Individually, Tompkins broke the records for GAA (0.58) and save percentage (.882), and had a 10-6-3 record, while starting all 22 matches. She finished the year first in the Pac-12 in save percentage, third in GAA and total saves, fifth in saves per game and shutouts, and seventh in minutes played. She was selected as the Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Week on Oct. 24, Oct. 31 and Nov. 7, becoming the first player in Pac-12 history to earn a player of the week award three consecutive weeks. Tompkins went on to earn Pac-12 All-Academic honorable mention with a 3.67 cumulative GPA.
The 44th Annual Awards Celebration is Sunday, March 11 at the Marriott Denver Tech Center. More information can be found athttp://sportswo.nextmp.net/banquet/.
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