O'Leary Named IWLCA Regional Coach of the Year
Monday, June 27, 2011 | Lacrosse
Florida head lacrosse coach Amanda O'Leary has been named the South Region Coach of the Year by the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA), as selected by a group of her peers. This is O'Leary's first time receiving the honor at the University of Florida and the third time in her career, after being named Northeast Region Coach of the Year in 1996 (USWLA) and in 2003 while at Yale University. Additionally, she was named IWLCA Coach of the Year with the Bulldogs in 1995.
O'Leary is joined by Jen Adams (Loyola, Mid-Atlantic Region), John Battaglino (Albany, Northeast Region) and Kelly Amonte Hiller (Northwestern, West/Midwest Region) as the four Division I regional award winners. Northwestern's Amonte Hiller was also named National Coach of the Year after leading the Wildcats to their sixth national title in seven years.
O'Leary guided the Florida lacrosse team, in just its second year of competition, to an outstanding season, finishing 16-4 and reaching as high as No. 2 in the IWLCA national poll. The Gators pulled off an undefeated, 11-0, season at home and accomplished a 14-game winning streak spanning more than two months to finish 14-2 in the regular season and 5-0 in the American Lacrosse Conference (ALC), winning the regular-season championship. The top-seeded Gators reached the ALC Tournament Championship, but fell to eventual National Champion Northwestern, 10-9. O'Leary then led the Gators past Stanford, 13-11, in the NCAA Championship First Round before falling to Duke in the Quarterfinals.
The Gators earned an impressive seven wins over IWLCA ranked opponents, including handing then-No. 2 Northwestern its first ALC regular-season loss in seven years. Alternatively, just one of the Gators' four losses came to a team that was not ranked in the top 5.
Under her leadership, the Gators garnered two IWLCA All-America honors, including ALC Player of the Year and First Team All-America Kitty Cullen (Rockville, Md.), who was nominated for the prestigious Tewaaraton Award as just a sophomore. Cullen led the nation in scoring for the entire regular season, and as a team, the Gators were ranked in the top 20 in five different statistical categories. Florida also had six players named to the ALC All-Conference teams, including three to the first team.
2011 IWLCA Division I Coaching Awards:
National Coach of the Year:
Kelly Amonte Hiller, Northwestern
Regional Coaches of the Year:
Mid-Atlantic: Jen Adams, Loyola (Md.)
Northeast: John Battaglino, Albany
West/Midwest: Kelly Amonte Hiller, Northwestern
South: Amanda O'Leary, Florida
