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From ASA press release

Top Ten Finalists Announced for Player of the Year
5/7/2008

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. ---The Amateur Softball Association, the National Governing Body of Softball in the United States, announced today the top ten finalists for the 7th Annual USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award. An initial “Watch List” was released on January 30 and the list of 25 finalists was announced on April 9. The USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, in its seventh year, is designed to recognize outstanding athletic achievement by NCAA Division I collegiate softball players across the country.

The ten finalists for the 7th Annual USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award consist of five seniors, three juniors, one sophomore and one freshman. Six conferences are represented on the list.

Top Ten Finalists listed in alphabetical order, are:

Katie Burkhart (Arizona State) – Senior– Pitcher - San Luis Obispo, Calif.

Tonya Callahan (Tennessee) – Senior – Infield – Holden, Mo.

Kaitlin Cochran (Arizona State) – Junior - Outfielder - Yorba Linda, Calif.

Megan Gibson (Texas A&M) – Senior – Pitcher/First Base – Spring, Texas

Charlotte Morgan (Alabama) – Sophomore – Pitcher/Utility – Moreno Valley, Calif.

Stacey Nelson (Florida) – Junior – Pitcher – Los Alamitos, Calif.

Angel Shamblin (Houston) – Senior – Pitcher/Utility – Davie, Fla.

Jordan Taylor (Michigan) – Freshman – Pitcher – Valencia, Calif.

Angela Tincher (Virginia Tech) – Senior - Pitcher - Eagle Rock, Va.

Tammy Williams (Northwestern) – Junior – Infield – Roscoe, Mo.

On May 21 the list will be cut to three and those final three players will travel to Oklahoma City for the announcement of the winner of the 7th Annual USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year Award. The announcement will take place during the ‘WCWS Party at the Park’ on Tuesday, May 27 at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium.

A replica of the award will be placed in a permanent display in the ASA National Softball Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, along with photos of the winner. An additional replica of the award will be presented to the player’s academic institution during an athletic event in the fall.

Tennessee’s Monica Abbott took home the 2007 award before leading her team to the Women’s College World Series final best-of-three final series. Past winners of the award include Stacey Nuveman (UCLA-2002), Osterman (Texas-2003, 2005, 2006) and Jessica Van der Linden (Florida State-2004).

About ASA

The Amateur Softball Association, founded in 1933, is the National Governing Body of softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. The ASA has become one of the nation’s largest sports organizations and now sanctions competition in every state through a network of 83 local associations. The ASA has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 240,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than three million. For more information on the ASA, visit http://www.asasoftball.com/.

About USA Softball

USA Softball is the brand created, operated and owned by the ASA that links the USA Men’s, Women’s, Junior Boys’ and Junior Girls’ National Team programs together. USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting these four National Teams to compete in international and domestic competitions. The USA Softball Women’s National Team is one of the only two women’s sports involved in the Olympic movement to capture three consecutive gold medals at the Olympic Games since 1996. The U.S. women have also won eight World Championship titles including the last six consecutive as well as claimed two World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about USA Softball, please visit http://www.usasoftball.com/.

Gators take over at No. 1
5/6/2008

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - Backed by a sweep of SEC foe No. 14 Tennessee, the Florida Gators are the top team in the nation according to the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 Collegiate Poll announced today by the Amateur Softball Association. This is the first-time that Florida has received a No.1 ranking in the six-year history of the poll.

Florida (59-2) swept then No. 12 Tennessee including an 11 - inning 6-5 victory to take home the title of SEC regular season Champions. Florida has only one loss in SEC play which was against No.4 Alabama.

Both No. 2 Arizona State (54-4) and No. 3 UCLA (43-6) fell one spot in this week’s poll after they faced off this past weekend splitting the series. The Sun Devils shut out UCLA 5-0 in the first game before falling 5-2 in game two.