Liz Wanless is one of 52 state finalists for the 2004 NCAA Woman of the Year award after earning the title for the State of Maine. The award honors outstanding female student-athletes who have excelled in academics, athletics and community leadership, and have completed their collegiate athletics eligibility.

Wanless ’04 (Belleville, Ill.), the 2004 indoor and outdoor NCAA champion in the shot put and an All-America volleyball player, is the third student-athlete to represent Bates as Maine’s NCAA Woman of the Year. Amanda Colby ’00 and Peggy Ficks ’01 were also Maine winners of the award.

“Bates has been fortunate to have so many strong nominees in recent years,” said Bates Director of Athletics Suzanne Coffey. “Liz continues that tradition, and we are happy that her achievements have been recognized with such a prestigious honor.”

Wanless, who will compete for the University of Florida’s women’s outdoor track and field team as a graduate student this year, is eligible for the award since she has finished her career at Bates as an NCAA Division III athlete.

Wanless is one of just 11 Division III athletes to be a state finalist. A national winner – the NCAA Woman of the Year – will be selected by the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics from among 10 finalists.  The top 10 finalists will be announced Wednesday, Sept. 15.

The national winner will be announced at the 2004 NCAA Woman of the Year dinner Sunday, Oct. 31, at The Indianapolis Westin.  This is the 14th year that the award – one of the top honors the NCAA bestows – will be given.

Liz Wanless won the women’s shot put at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships with a meet record throw to claim her second national shot put championship on Saturday afternoon at Millikin University.

Wanless ’04 (Belleville, Ill.) won by more than five feet with a toss of 52 feet one-half inch. Wanless was also the NCAA shot put champion at the indoor championship in March.

Kelly Godsey ’06 (Parker, Colo.) won her third All-America honor of the season with a third-place showing at 46-2.5. Godsey was second in the hammer throw on Thursday and fourth in the discus on Friday for the Bobcats. Jackie Luehmann of Gustavus Adolphus finished second with a mark of 46-5.25.

Bates finished tied with Williams for eighth in the team standings with 29 points. Wisconsin-Oshkosh won the team title with 57 points. Calvin was second with 54.3 and Wheaton third with 37.8.

Matt Ondra ’04 (New Tripolli, Pa.) led the Bobcat men, finishing in a three-way tie for fourth in the pole vault. Scott Cooper ’06 (Sherman Oaks, Calif.) joined Ondra as an All-America honoree, finishing seventh in the hammer throw. The men’s team scored six points to finish tied for 46th.

Liz Wanless was named the U.S. Track Coaches Association Female Regional Athlete of the Year, and Al Fereshetian was selected as the USTCA Men’s Regional Coach of the Year for New England on Wednesday night.

Wanless ’04 (Belleville, Ill.) won the shot put at the 2004 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships with a meet record throw and has won the event at the New England Small College Athletic Conference Championships, the Division III New England Championships and the ECAC Championships during the outdoor track season. She enters the outdoor national championships as the top seed in the shot put with a toss of 53 feet, one inch, leading the field by more than five feet.

Fereshetian led the Bobcat men to the best season in program history entering the NCAA championships. Bates won the State of Maine Championship, then finished second at NESCAC’s, D-III New England’s and ECAC’s. The team also finished seventh at the Open New England Championships, tied for first among NCAA Division III institutions.

Bates has six men and two women entered in the 2004 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Millikin University in Decatur, Ill. Competition begins on Thursday at 11 a.m. CST.

After claiming second place in each of the last two NCAA Track & Field Championships, Bates College senior Liz Wanless finally won the elusive national shot put championship, and she did it in style, beating the field by more than five feet and hitting the Olympic Trial “B” qualifying distance.

For the latest updates on Bates student-athletes at the NCAA Championships, visit the Athletics homepage at http://www.bates.edu/sports.xml.

Bobcats at NCAA Championships