Engen Captures Honda Award As Top Women's Athlete In Soccer
December 22, 2009 | Women's Soccer
Dec. 22, 2009
NEW YORK, N.Y. - Whitney Engen, a senior at the University of North Carolina, has won the 2009 Honda Sports Award in soccer, designating her as the nation's top collegiate female athlete in the sport. 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 34th year.
Her win marks the 11th time that a University of North Carolina soccer player has been honored with the award. Past Honda Sports Award winners from the school include soccer great Mia Hamm, who won it two years in a row. (See below for list of past winners.)
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. Engen was voted over three other nominees for the 2009 award, including her fellow Tar Heel, senior Tobin Heath. The other two nominees were Lauren Cheney, a senior at UCLA and Kelley O'Hara, a Stanford University senior. The candidates were selected by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
Noted Engen: "To end our season with a championship and then win the Honda Sports Award is beyond my wildest dreams. I was really shocked when I heard the news, especially being up against my teammate Tobin, whom I admire greatly, as well as the other phenomenal nominees."
A resident of Rolling Hills Estates, Calif., Engen is the center back in Carolina's unique flat back three defensive scheme. She made the transition to defense after starting at forward her first two years at UNC, finishing those two seasons as Carolina's third-leading scorer with 37 points and 20 points, respectively. She was named this year's NCAA Women's College Cup MVP on Defense after helping her team to its third national championship in the past four years. She was also named Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year on a team that allowed just 12 goals and had 19 shutouts.
She is a 2009 first-team NSCAA and Soccer America All-America and 2009 first-team All-ACC selection, having played in 105 games during her college career and starting 103. In the 2009 season she scored one goal and had three assists for five points, for a career total of 19 goals and 27 assists. She was named a second- team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America in 2009. Engen has made the Dean's List at UNC in each of the past six semesters and maintains a 3.6 GPA, majoring in political science. Her mother Kim was a scholarship tennis player at UCLA. She looks forward to entering the draft to play in the Women's Professional Soccer league.
Previous Honda Award winners from the University of North Carolina for soccer include: Shannon Higgins (1989); Kristine Lilly (1991); Mia Hamm (1992 and `93); Tisha Venturini (1994); Lorrie Fair (1999); Meredith Florance (2000); Catherine Reddick (2003); Heather O'Reilly (2006) and Casey Nogueira (2008).
Previously announced Honda Sports Award recipients include University of Illinois' Angela Bizzarri for cross country, and Katie O'Donnell from the University of Maryland for Field Hockey. Honda Award winners in basketball, golf, gymnastics, lacrosse, 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 in June 2010.
American Honda Motor Co., Inc. sponsors the Collegiate Women Sports Awards Program.
