MONTREAL, Feb. 13, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- FieldTurf Tarkett today announced the winners of its inaugural NCAA Lacrosse Coach of the Year awards for 2006. Award-winners were named in all three divisions for men's and women's lacrosse. This year's winners include:
* NCAA Division-1 (Men): Greg Cannella, UMass Minutemen * NCAA Division-1 (Women): Kelly Amonte Hiller, Northwestern Wildcats * NCAA Division-2 (Men): Jack Kaley, NYIT Bears * NCAA Division-2 (Women): Karen MacCrate, C.W. Post Pioneers * NCAA Division-3 (Men): Jim Berkman, Salisbury Sea Gulls * NCAA Division-3 (Women): Carol Cantele, Gettysburg Bullets
GREG CANNELLA, UMass Minutemen (Division 1 - men): The UMass Minutemen lacrosse team enjoyed a historical 2006 season. The Minutemen played in the first National Championship game in school history and they were the first-ever New England-based lacrosse team to reach the NCAA D-1 championship game. The team was the first-ever in the history of lacrosse to beat the teams ranked No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 in the same season and all of them came in a row, marking the most difficult path to the national championship game for any team, all-time. The ninth-ranked Minutemen finished the 2006 regular season with a stellar 13-5 record. FieldTurf's nomination of Greg Cannella as NCAA D-1 Men's Lacrosse Coach of the Year is his second coaching honor of the year as he was also named the National Coach of the Year.
KELLY AMONTE HILLER, Northwestern Wildcats (Division 1 - women): Under the veteran leadership of Amonte Hiller, The Wildcats (20-1) captured their second-straight NCAA national championship with a 7-4 victory over Dartmouth in the 2006 championship game in front of a record crowd at Boston University's Nickerson Field. In July 2000, Kelly Amonte Hiller was given the task of putting the Northwestern women's lacrosse program back on the map after a decade of inactivity. She officially took over the title of head coach during the Wildcats' first varsity season in the spring of 2002, and the progress in five short years has been incredible, culminating with back-to-back championship seasons in 2005 and 2006.
JACK KALEY, NYIT Bears (Division 2 - men): After graduating 10 of their 14 starters from the successful 2005 season, the Bears embarked upon a rebuilding process in 2006 that saw them add 17 new faces, including 15 freshman to the roster. The Bears finished with an 8-3 record in 2006 and coach Kaley laid the foundation for another run to the top of Division II lacrosse. In his 15th season as head of the NYIT Lacrosse team, Jack Kaley has established the Bears as one of the best and most respected programs in the nation.
KAREN MACCRATE, C.W. Post Pioneers (Division 2 - women): The C.W. Post women's lacrosse team is in its seventh year of existence - all of which have been mentored by head coach Karen MacCrate. Their 2006 appearance in the NCAA Division II Championship was the fifth for the C.W. Post women's lacrosse team and tied them with West Chester for the most championship appearances in Division II women's lacrosse history. The Pioneers were ranked No. 1 in 2006 with a 16-2 record and have amassed a record of 86-20 (.811) since tournament play began in 2001.
JIM BERKMAN, Salisbury Sea Gulls (Division 3 - men): Berkman completed his 18th season at Salisbury in 2006, while his record and the team's six national championships is proof of the outstanding program he has built. Salisbury's record of 20-1 in 2006 was good enough to earn them yet another No. 1 nationwide ranking. The Sea Gulls have made 18 consecutive trips to the NCAA Championship Tournament, the longest active streak among NCAA Division III programs. Salisbury enjoyed a remarkable 69-game win streak from 2003 to 2006.
CAROL CANTELE, Gettysburg Bullets (Division 3 - women): What more can you say about Carol Cantele? The Bullets' leader guided a Gettysburg team that achieved unprecedented success in 2006. The Bullets went 21-1 on the season, enjoyed a program-record 21 game winning streak, were ranked No. 1 in the nation for the first time, won their fifth consecutive Centennial Conference championship, qualified for the NCAA tournament for the fifth consecutive season, advanced to the NCAA semifinals for the first time and finished as the national runner-up. In addition to being named the Division 3 Women's FieldTurf 2006 NCAA Lacrosse Coach of the Year, Cantele was also named the IWLCA Coach of the Year, the womenslacrosse.com Coach of the Year, and the Inside Lacrosse Coach of the Year.
More than 100 institutions in North America play and/or practice lacrosse on their FieldTurf field(s) including Syracuse University, Naval Academy, Yale University, U.S. Military Academy, New York Institute of Technology, Brown University, Rutgers Preparatory School, Fairleigh Dickenson University, University of Virginia, and Carnegie Mellon University, among many others.
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