Winners to be honored next week in Charlotte, N.C.

A twin sister matching her sibling highlights the list of collegiate players selected as NSCAA/adidas National Players of the Year.

Karin Sullivan of Westmont College was named Most Valuable Player as she helped lead her team to its third consecutive NAIA national championship. By claiming National Player of the Year honors, she matches the feat achieved by her twin sister and teammate, Kristi, last season. It marks the first time a school has won consecutive NAIA National Player of the Year honors.

The recipients of the award have been invited to take part in the NSCAA/adidas All-America Luncheon, to be held Saturday, Jan. 17, in Charlotte, N.C., as part of the 2004 NSCAA Convention.

Men’s Honorees
NCAA Division II – Ross Lumsden, Lynn University
A four-time letterwinner and Lynn’s team captain in 2003, Lumsden was the leader of a defense which yielded a Sunshine State Conference-low 21 goals and captured the NCAA Division II men’s title. A first-team all-conference selection, he was the SSC defensive MVP for the SCC regular season and conference tournament as well as the NCAA tournament. A two-time NSCAA/adidas All-America, Lumsden was a three-time first-team All-SSC selection. In the three years Lumsden anchored the defense, Lynn posted a 72-5-1 record and won 24 of 27 SSC matches. Offensively, he scored 16 goals and added three assists for 35 career points.

NCAA Division III – Joshua Smith, Trinity University
A three-time NSCAA/adidas All-America, Smith has been named to the first team the past two seasons. A four-time all-conference selection, he was named conference MVP this season, when he posted career highs with 10 assists and 28 points while leading Trinity to the NCAA national title. During his four years at Trinity, he played in 85 games, scored 27 goals (including six game-winners) and had 23 assists for a total of 77 points.

NAIA – Fabricio Codeceira, Fresno Pacific University
A native of Rio de Janeiro, Codeceira came off an injury-shortened sophomore season to vault to NSCAA/adidas All-America and Player of the Year honors. He notched 15 goals and 31 assists for 61 points. The 31 assists in a season crushed his own school record (13) and the conference mark (20). The conference and region player of the year, he also earned Most Valuable Offensive Player honors at the NAIA National Championship.

Junior college Division I – Ramon-Dee L. Bailey, Mercer Co. CC
A native of Bronx, N.Y., Bailey played high school soccer for New York City powerhouse Martin Luther King High School in Manhattan. He led the squad to a city championship and earned a spot on the All-New York City first team. A Region I ODP player, he is a former member of the Jamaica U-17 National Team.

Junior college Division III – Jesus Rodriguez, Richland College
A two-time NSCAA/adidas All-America, Rodriguez scored 15 goals and offered up 15 assists for Richland this season, helping the team to back-to-back NJCAA championships. Last season he had 12 goals and 15 assists. A three-time all-district selection for South Garland High School, he was the squad’s most valuable player as a senior. Jesus graduated from South Garland high school in 2002.

Women’s Honorees
NCAA Division II – Laura Hislop, Franklin Pierce College
Hislop earned NSCAA/adidas All-America in her first season at Franklin Pierce after transferring from Virginia Intermont College. The Division II leader with 85 points and 23 assists, she was second in the nation with 31 goals. She had a team-best five hat tricks (three in postseason play), seven match-winning goals and seven first goals. A six-time conference player of the week, she set a school record with 13 points on five goals and three assists in a 10-1 win over Stonehill College. MVP of the Northeastern-10 Conference Tournament, she registered back-to-back hat tricks to open the NCAA Tournament on her way to all-tournament team honors.

NCAA Division III – Renee Neuner, University of Chicago
Only a sophomore, Neuner has made a huge impact on University Athletic Association (UAA), earning its Most Valuable Player honors the past two years as well as Rookie of the Year in 2002. Recipient of the 2003 UAA All-Academic Distinction Award , she already owns Chicago career (41) and season (21) goal scoring records. This season she had 21 goals, including seven game-winners. She added six assists for 48 points in only 19 matches. A member of the 2003 NCAA Division III All-Tournament team, she scored winning goal in double overtime in Chicago's 2-1 win over DePauw in the national semifinals.

NAIA – Karin Sullivan, Westmont College
Most Valuable Player of the NAIA national tournament, she led the conference in scoring with 23 goals and nine assists for 55 points, the second highest total in Westmont history. Her four goals and two assists in national tournament play this fall allowed her to close out her three-year career at Westmont with 137 points, third on the career scoring list. She also ranks third all-time for the Warriors with 57 goals and sixth in assists 23. Her selection keeps the award in the family: her twin sister Kristi was the 2002 NSCAA/adidas National Player of the Year.

Junior College Division I – Nicole Anderson, Dixie State College
A defender from Salt Lake City, Anderson is a repeat NSCAA/adidas All-America. She led Dixie State to the 2003 NJCAA National Championship. The anchor of a defense that allowed an average of four shots on goal all season when playing other junior colleges, she scored three goals and had seven assists this year. Anderson was named Most Valuable Back at the national tournament and earned all-tournament honors.

Junior College Division III – Ashley DeAlejandro, Long Beach City College
A goalkeeper, DeAlejandro is the second Long Beach City College player in as many years to win the award. She was instrumental in LBCC’s 22-0 record and a second consecutive NSCAA No. 1 and the 2003 California Community College title. A two-time NSCAA/adidas All-America, she posted 19 shutouts while allowing just three goals all season , giving her career totals of 36 shutouts and only 11 goals allowed during her two-year career at LBCC. She earned first-team All-South Coast Conference honors after helping LBCC shutout its conference opponents this season . In exhibition play against the Argentine Women’s World Cup team, she made 10 saves and allowed only one goal in 45 minutes of action. She ended her season with a 0.12 goals against average.

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