Five Earn All-America Accolades; Cryer And Waagbo On First Team

DURHAM, N.C. --- Five Duke women's lacrosse players were named to All-America teams, as announced this week by the IWLCA and US Lacrosse. Picking up first team honors were junior attacker Caroline Cryer and senior attacker Kristen Waagbo. Sophomore midfielder Carolyn Davis, senior attacker Leigh Jester and senior midfielder Rachel Sanford were named to the third team. The IWLCA and US Lacrosse will honor the National All-America team members at an awards banquet on June 16, in King of Prussia, Pa.

Cryer, a native of Cherry Creek, Colo., led Duke with 71 goals this season. That was good for the best mark in the ACC and third-best in the NCAA at 3.55 goals per game. Cryer was second in the conference and 14th in the nation in points per game with 4.45. Her 66 draw controls led the Blue Devils in that category, and she was third in the ACC and 11th in the NCAA with her 3.3 draw controls per game. Cryer's five game-winning goals tied for the ACC lead. She was also one of five finalists for the Tewaaraton Trophy and one of four finalists for the Honda Lacrosse Award, which are both given annually to the nation's top collegiate lacrosse player.

Waagbo had one of the best individual seasons in the Duke's history in 2007. She led the ACC and was 11th in the NCAA with 4.5 points per game, and also led the ACC and was 10th in the NCAA with 2.2 assists per game. The native of Ellicott City, Md., broke her own record for assists in one season at Duke and finished with 44. Waagbo also broke the all-time Duke assists' record in the second game of the season and ended her career with 116. That total is second on the all-time ACC list and 11th all-time in the NCAA. Waagbo is second on Duke's career points list with 277 and tied for second on the goals' list with 161. Besides having been a Tewaaraton Trophy nominee, Waagbo was named to the All-ACC and ACC-All-Tournament teams for the second year in a row.

Davis nipped the proverbial “sophomore slump” in the bud this season, performing like a seasoned veteran. The Skaneateles, N.Y., native wound up with 34 goals and 14 assists this season for the Blue Devils. Davis added a team-high 33 ground balls and 27 caused turnovers this season. Her 1.35 caused turnovers per game was fifth in the ACC. Davis was named to the All-ACC squad for the first time in her career in April.

Jester continued her strong play in her final season as a Blue Devil. The attacker from Ridgewood, N.J., was third on the team in goals with 40 and second in assists with 30. Her assist total tied for third-highest in school history. Jester's 1.5 assists per game was third in the ACC and tied for 27th in the NCAA. Jester was named to the All-ACC team for the second straight year and was on the watch list for the Tewaaraton Trophy earlier this season. She moved into fourth place on Duke's career points list (204), tied for fourth on the all-time assists list (63) and placed fifth on the all-time goals list (141).

Sanford, who hails from Greenwich, Conn., gave Duke another solid season on both sides of the ball. Sanford found the back of the net 41 times this year and added eight assists, 44 draw controls and 25 ground balls. She had a team-high 32 caused turnovers which led the ACC at a clip of 1.6 per game. That mark was 25th in the NCAA. Sanford's five game-winning goals tied with Cryer for the ACC lead. On March 12, Sanford was the ACC Player of the Week.

Duke finished the 2007 season with a 16-4 record. They won a share of the ACC regular season title for the fourth year in a row, advanced to the Final Four for the third consecutive year and accumulated the third-highest win total in school history. The Blue Devils finished sixth in the final rankings and were awarded the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The team will return seven of 12 starters and 24 of 31 letterwinners in 2008.

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