2005 Re-Cap

News:

2005 has been a great year for the SWLL.  We saw six of our teams get ranked during the season, many of whom were new to the rankings and we had two teams ranked in the fourth poll leading up to the championships.  University of Florida led the way with a ranking of seven which will carry them to Blaine, Minnesota for the WDIA National Championships May 11-14^th.  The University of Georgia was also ranked in that poll and fell in at #24.  The next poll will be released April 21^st and the WDIA seedings will be announced on April 25^th.

The 2005 SWLL Championship weekend was also a great success this year.  Led by SWLL Vice President Jen Crews (who was also playing with her team throughout the weekend) everyone enjoyed six great lacrosse games on the Emory campus.  Many thanks to all of those that helped, especially Gail Decker of Harrow Sports, Dan Magee of Emory, and the numerous players that helped with the clock, stats, set-up and break down throughout the weekend. 

On Friday, #3 seed, The University of Georgia beat #6 seeded Emory and the #5 seeded University of Miami upset #4 seed FSU in a rematch of an earlier game that set the stage for their seeds.  On Saturday it was more in-state rivalries when UGA upset the #2 seed Georgia Tech and UF defended their #1 seed and beat Miami. 

The semis on Saturday were followed by the SWLL Awards banquet where the 2005 All-SWLL team was announced as well as the following awards: Defender of the Year, Attack of the Year, College Age Umpire of the Year, Coach of the Year, and the team and individual winners of the Eames Sportsmanship Award.  Thank you to Harrow Sports for their contribution to this year’s banquet and awards.

Congratulations to the winners!

2005 All-SWLL:

**Lisa Furst, UM

**Leslie Jones, UGA

*Mills Wallace, UF

Erin Hogan, UF

Carolyn Manno, UF

Jen Crews, GT

Kim Williamson, GT

Christina Testa, UGA

Carlie Buchan, FSU

Courtney Smith, FSU

Ivy Warren, UCF

Kupra Patel, UCF

Ann Pong, AUB

Traci Collins, AUB

Mary Gamble, CU

Mary Rainey, UT

Katie Dickens, Furman

**SWLL Player of the Year: Lisa Furst (Attack); Leslie Jones (Defense)

*2005 SWLL Championship Game MVP

Best College Aged Umpire: Claire Kelly, UGA

Coach of the Year: Will Oakley, GT

*Eames Sportsmanship Award* (team): Furman University

*Eames Sportsmanship Award* (individual): Beth Spinning, SWLL Head Umpire

The semis set the stage for what has become the traditional match-up between UF and UGA.  UF was making their third straight appearance in the finals (going for a three-peat at SWLL Champions) and UGA was making their 4th consecutive appearance in the championship game and trying to win for the first time since 2002.  The Gators topped the Bulldogs to win the 2005 SWLL Championship and the automatic bid to the 2005 WDIA National Championships.

Congratulations to all of the SWLL teams on another successful season and best of luck to the University of Florida Gators as they compete for the WDIA National Championship!   

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