Chrest, Kimel Earn ACC Honors

April 28, 2005

Katie Chrest was named Duke's first-ever the ACC Player of the Year and Kirsten Kimel earned her fourth ACC Coach of the Year honor, announced by the conference at its annual banquet Thursday.

Chrest makes history as the first Blue Devil to receive ACC Player of the Year honors after leading Duke to a 12-3 overall record and a 3-1 mark in the conference this season. The junior Tewaaraton Trophy nominee is tied for first all-time at Duke for season goals with 54 heading into the ACC Tournament and leads the second-ranked Blue Devils in goals (54), assists (16) and points (70). Earlier this season, Chrest set a school record for goals in a game with seven against Loyola on April 16 after tying the previous record of six versus William & Mary in March.

A native of Hampstead, Md., Chrest leads the NCAA in goals per game at 3.60 and ranks fifth in the country in points per game at 4.60. Additionally, she holds a spot in the top 5 of the ACC statistical leaders in goals (1st - 3.60), assists (t-5th - 1.00), points (2nd - 4.60), game-winning goals (t-1st - 3), shots (1st - 8.67), draw controls (t-1st - 2.80) and caused turnovers (3rd - 1.40). The three-time ACC Player of the Week in 2005, she has registered eight points in a game two times this season (6 goals, 2 assists vs. William & Mary and 7 goals, 1 assists vs. Loyola).

In her 10th season at the helm of the Duke lacrosse program, Kimel earned ACC Coach of the Year honors for the fourth time in her career after leading the Blue Devils to a 12-3 record against one of the most powerful schedules in the country. She has led Duke to its second-straight trip to the ACC Tournament as the number one seed, while going 6-1 against conference rivals in the last two years during the regular season.

With a career record of 108-64, Kimel collected her 100th win at Duke on March 4 against William & Mary by a 17-8 margin. She is in the midst of her eighth consecutive winning season at Duke with four wins over nationally-ranked opponents in the 2005 season.

The top-seeded Blue Devils take the field against North Carolina, who defeated Virginia Tech by a score of 15-5 in Thursday's play-in game, at 3:30 p.m. Friday at Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium. The first semifinal tilt will feature Virginia against Maryland at 1:00 p.m.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Katie Chrest, Duke

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Natasha Fuchs, Virginia Tech

COACH OF THE YEAR
Kerstin Kimel, Duke

ALL-ACC TEAM
Katie Chrest, Duke
Megan Huether, Duke
Caline McHenry, Duke
Rachel Sanford, Duke
Annie Collins, Maryland
Delia Cox, Maryland
Greta Sommers, Maryland
Acacia Walker, Maryland
Gina Allen, North Carolina
Jenn Cook, North Carolina
Allison Higgins, North Carolina
Christina Juras, North Carolina
Amy Appelt, Virginia
Kim Connors, Virginia
Tyler Leachman, Virginia
Nikki Kieb, Virginia