Blythe-Wood Named All-American; Joins Weidner Receiving All-South Region Honors
12/10/2009 | Field Hockey
Dec. 10, 2009
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Richmond senior Sarah Blythe-Wood was named NFHCA Third-Team All-American, becoming just the fifth Spider to earn All-American honors and the first since 2004.
Blythe-Wood, who led the Atlantic 10 and was 19th in the nation in goals per game (0.96), was also named Longstretch First-Team All-South Region, while senior back Jess Weidner was named Second-Team All-South Region.
Blythe-Wood was named Second-Team All-American by WomensFieldHockey.com.
"Sarah's All-American recognition is a fitting close to her career as a student athlete," Richmond head coach Gina Lucido said. "Sarah persevered through many challenging roads at Richmond and never quit on her dreams of achieving national recognition as a Richmond Spider."
Blythe-Wood, who was also named Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Year, First-Team All-Atlantic 10 and Academic All-Atlantic, joins fellow Richmond All-Americans Dawn Reyerson (1993), Heather Rice (2000), Allie Howard (2004) and Holly Cram (2004).
The Harare, Zimbabwe native scored 22 goals in her senior season, the fourth-highest single-season total in school history. Blythe-Wood was 18th in the nation in points per game (2.35), finishing with 53 points in 2009, which ranks third on Richmond's single-season list. She led the team and was tied for the conference lead in assists with 11. She finished her career with 89 points, which ranks fifth on Richmond's all-time list and 35 goals, which ranks sixth.
 Senior Jess Weidner was named NFHCA Second-Team All-South Region.  |
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"The south regional recognition is a prestigious honor," Lucido said. "With two of the four Final Four teams coming from the South region, the competition is stiff. Jess exercised her will on opponents and stood out among the best. She is one of the most effective defenders I have coached. Sarah consistently put points on the board and finished when the game was on the line. Her determination and talent combined to achieve well-deserved national recognition."
In addition to Blythe-Wood and Weidner, the Spiders had four other players earn Atlantic 10 postseason honors. Senior Megan Thompson and sophomore Katelin Peterson joined Blythe-Wood and Weidner on the A-10 All-Conference First-Team, while senior Jacki Raithel and junior Dani Pycroft were named Second-Team All-Atlantic 10 and freshman Catherine Ostoich was named to the All-Rookie Team.