Cullen, O'Leary Nominated for Three Inside Lacrosse Magazine "Laxies"

Junior attacker Kitty Cullen (Rockville, Md.) and Florida Head Coach Amanda O’Leary have been nominated for a total of three awards for the fourth annual Inside Lacrosse Magazine “Laxies.” Cullen is up for both Division I Women’s Player of the Year and Breakthrough Player of the Year, while O’Leary is nominated for Coach of the Year.

This is the first time that a Gator has been nominated for a “Laxie,” however Assistant Coach Caitlyn McFadden was named 2010 Division I Women’s Player of the Year for her outstanding senior season at the University of Maryland. McFadden was the only female to earn a “Laxie” out of the 18 awards given out in 2010.

Kitty Cullen had an outstanding sophomore campaign, finishing second in the nation in goals (77) and goals per game (3.85), garnering three first-team All-America honors. The Maryland native was also named ALC Player of the Year and selected to the IWLCA All-South Region first team. She received nine weekly honors throughout the season, including four national player of the week honors and four ALC Offensive Player of the Week honors. Cullen scored a point in every game in 2011, carrying a team-best 24-game scoring streak into 2012. A Tewaaraton nominee as just a sophomore, she is the only female nominated for two different “Laxies”.

In the DI Women’s Player of the Year category, Cullen is up against fellow-ALC player Shannon Smith of Northwestern, the Tewaaraton Trophy winning and the NCAA Championship Game’s Most Oustanding Player; Sarah Mollison of Maryland, who scored 56 goals and 45 assists for a total of 101 points in 2011; Emma Hamm of Duke, a 2011 junior who tallied 76 points and was a Tewaaraton finalist; and Grace Gavin of Loyola, who was named first-team All-America after scoring 98 points (71G, 27A) in her senior season. For Inside Lacrosse Magazine’s breakdown of the DI Women nominees, click here.

Cullen is also nominated for the title of Breakthrough Player of the Year; she is the only female in the category as well as the only non-professional athlete nominated. Her challengers are Jeremy Boltus, Brian Karalunsa, Jordan Burke and Matt Dolente. Boluse scored 69 points for Army in his senior season and then earned MLL Rookie of the Year honors with the Hamilton Nationals. Karalunas is a longpole defender who nabbed 74 grounders and caused 70 turnovers as a senior at Villanova, earning first-team All-America and BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year honors. Following graduation, he was selected 35^th overall by the Long Island Lizards in the MLL Draft.

Burke went 7-3 in goal for the Boston Cannons with a .615 save percentage and led the Cannons to their first MLL Championship, earning Championship MVP accolades.  Dolente is a 2011 graduate of Johns Hopkins who won 67.7% of his draws in the face-off X as a senior and signed with the Hamilton National post-graduation. For Inside Lacrosse Magazine’s breakdown of the Breakthrough nominees, click here.

Amanda O’Leary led the 2011 Florida Gators to a record-setting season, becoming the fastest team ever to enter the top 10 in the IWLCA national poll as well as the first second-year program in poll history to achieve a No. 2 ranking (April 25, 2011). O’Leary guided the team to an ALC regular-season championship with a perfect 5-0 record, including taking down then-No. 2 Northwestern, 13-11, handing the eventual National Champion Wildcats their first ALC regular-season loss in seven years. Following the season, O’Leary was named ALC Coach of the Year and IWLCA South Region Coach of the Year. Her career record of 188-77 (.709) over 16 seasons as a head coach (including 14 at the helm of Yale University) ranks her No. 6 among active Division I head coaches for career winning percentage and No. 8 in career wins.

O’Leary is up against four boy’s and men’s lacrosse coaches in the category of Coach of the Year: Dom Starsia, the head coach at the University of Virginia, who led the Cavaliers to the 2011 NCAA Championship; Bob Hartanft, a Long Island lacrosse legend who led Farmingdale High School’s boy’s team to its first ever New York Class A Championship; John Nostrant, who guided the Haverford School to a perfect, 23-0 season, an Inter-Ac Invitational Championship and the No. 1 ranking in the Under Armour/IL 2011 High School Power Rankings; and Billy Day, the head coach of the Boston Cannons, who went 11-3 and captured their first ever Steinfeld Trophy.

Voting for the 2011 “Laxies” is now open and will continue until Sept. 30. Every voter is automatically entered into a daily drawing to win his or her choice of three prizes: an Inside Lacrosse Pink Guerillia Pinnie, a 2012 Inside Lacrosse Wall Calendar, or a 2012 Face-Off Yearbook. One lucky voter will be selected each day until voting closes next Friday. To vote: visit http://laxies.insidelacrosse.com/.