DENVER - The Western Athletic Conference released its 2003 all-WAC softball team and individual awards as selected by the league's head coaches. For the third-straight season, a Hawai`i player earned WAC Player of the Year honors. Junior first baseman Stacey Porter earned the honor after teammate Kate Judd earned the award the last two seasons. For the first time in WAC history, Co-WAC Pitcher of the Year honors were awarded to Fresno State's Jamie Southern and Hawai`i's Melissa Coogan. Freshman of the Year honors went to Fresno State shortstop Christina Clark. Hawai`i head coach Bob Coolen earned his first WAC Coach of the Year honor after leading the Rainbow Wahine to their first WAC title.
Porter, a junior from Tamworth, NSW Australia, led the WAC in hitting in league games with a .458 average. She was also first in runs scored (22), home runs (9) and total bases (60). Porter's nine home runs in league play broke the single-season record. Porter is second all-time in the WAC in home runs with 38. The first baseman was one of five players to repeat on the all-WAC team along with teammates Kate Judd and Denise Dahlberg and Fresno State's Jamie Southern and Pam West.
Coogan and Southern are the first WAC Co-Pitchers of the Year since the league began the honor in 1998. This is the second-straight honor for Southern, a sophomore right-hander from Clovis, Calif. Southern led the WAC with a 0.49 ERA in league games. She is fifth the nation in ERA (0.67). In WAC games, Southern led the league in strikeouts (106). Coogan, a sophomore from West Hills, Calif., led the WAC in league wins with 14, which places her fifth all-time in the WAC. Overall, Coogan ended the regular season with a WAC-leading 29 wins.
Coolen, in his 11th-year as head coach at Hawai`i, earned his first WAC Coach of the Year honor after leading the Rainbow Wahine to a 17-3 WAC record and their first WAC title. In WAC games, Hawai`i led the league in hits (166), slugging percentage (.422) and was second in batting average (.300). The Rainbow Wahine earned the WAC's automatic bid and will advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2001.
Fresno State led the conference with five players on the all-WAC first team. Hawai`i placed four on the first team, while Louisiana Tech had two and Tulsa had one. Only two of the 10 first-team all-WAC performers from a year ago are a repeat performers, Hawai`i's Porter and Fresno State's Southern. There were ties for first team at second base and pitcher.
Hawai`i added three more athletes on the second team to lead the way. Both Tulsa and WAC newcomer Nevada had two players on the second team, while Fresno State and San Jose State each had one. At least one player from all six teams earned all-WAC honors. Two first-team performers from last season earned second team honors this season, Hawai`i's Denise Dahlberg and Kate Judd.
2003 ALL-WAC SOFTBALL TEAM
First Team
Name Team Pos. Yr.
Pam West+ FS C Sr.
Stacey Porter!$ UH 1B Jr.
Mary Cohn LTU 2B Fr.
Danielle Olsen TU 2B Sr.
Trisha Ramos UH 3B Sr.
Christina Clark FS SS Fr.
Nicole Shan FS OH Fr.
Brittany Stanley LTU OF So.
Tracie Uchima UH OF So.
Lori Hoffman FS UT Jr.
Melissa Coogan UH P So.
Jamie Southern! FS P So.
Second Team
Name Team Pos. Yr.
Denise Dahlberg! UH C So.
Katie Torres TU 1B Fr.
Jamie Waldron UN 2B Jr.
Angelina Diaz FS 3B Fr.
Kate Judd!$ UH SS Sr.
Becca Baldridge SJSU OF Jr.
Heather Hiar TU OF Jr.
Stacy Mueller UN OF Jr.
April Crowell UH UT Jr.
Maren Genow TU P Fr.
2003 WAC Player of the Year:Stacey Porter, Hawai`i
2003 WAC Co-Pitchers of the Year:Melissa Coogan, Hawai'i, Jamie Southern, Fresno State
2003 WAC Freshman of the Year:Christina Clark, Fresno State
2003 WAC Coach of the Year: Bob Coolen, Hawai`i
!2002 First Team all-WAC
+2002 Second Team all-WAC
$2001 First Team all-WAC