06/04/2008 - Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – For the second straight year, Duke University women’s golfer Amanda Blumenherst has been named the winner of the Honda Award for golf, which was released on Wednesday.  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 32nd year.

Blumenherst’s victory will earn her the 2008 Honda Sports Award, given annually to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports, along with automatic nomination for the 2008 Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year.  She was voted over three other nominees: Tiffany Joh, a junior at UCLA; Stacy Lewis, a senior at the University of Arkansas; and Azahara Munoz, a junior at Arizona State University.  The candidates were selected based on their finish at the NCAA Championships and Golfweek/Sagarin rating.

With her back-to-back Honda Awards, Blumenherst became only the second repeat winner in women’s golf as Wendy Ward was selected in 1994 and 1995.  Blumenherst was also a nominee as a freshman in 2005-06.

Blumenherst, a native of Scottsdale, Ariz, claimed her third straight National Player of Year award this year, becoming the first three-time winner in golf history. A first team All-America since her freshman year, she finished her 2007-08 season with a No. 1 ranking in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index and won the Golfstat Cup for her third consecutive year, which was also a first. Blumenherst matched own school-record this season with a 71.00 stroke average and finished in the top five in all 11 tournaments she played, while posting 20 rounds of even or under par. She is the first-ever repeat Nancy Lopez Award winner and also earned the Dinah Shore Award from the National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA).  She guided Duke to a third place finish at this year’s NCAA tournament, tying for fifth place in individual competition.

In addition to her achievements in golf, Blumenherst is an academic standout. She holds a 3.78 GPA and is majoring in history, along with minors in English and theatre studies.  

Previously announced 2008 Honda Sports Award recipients include Texas Tech’s Sally Kipyego for cross-country, the University of North Carolina’s Rachel Dawson for field hockey, Texas A&M University’s Ashlee Pistorius for soccer, Stanford University’s Foluke Akinradewo for volleyball, University of Florida’s Caroline Burckle for swimming & diving, the University of Tennessee’s Candace Parker for basketball, the University of Georgia’s Katie Heenan for gymnastics and Northwestern University’s Hannah Nielsen for lacrosse.  Honda Sports Award winners in softball, tennis, and track & field will be announced in June.

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’s Low Library on Monday, June 23.

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