Top female athletes to be honored
at WHAM Local Sportswomen Awards

Fifteen of the top female athletes in the five-county area will be honored on Monday, April 25 at the 27th Annual WHAM Sportswomen of the Year Awards Luncheon.

Five finalists in the local high school, local college and local at-large divisions will attend the noon Luncheon at the Clarion Riverside Hotel in downtown Rochester, where the 2004-05 individual winners in each category will be announced.

A limited number of tickets remain for the luncheon at $50 per person. Seats must be purchased by calling the 24-hour luncheon hotline at 234-2055.

The 15 finalists were selected for their athletic excellence from April 2004 through March 2005. Overall career athletic achievements and academic performance/community involvement were also considered.

In the College Division, among the five finalists are:

•Senior Carrie Santore of SUNY Brockport: 2005 ECAC Division III Gymnastics All-Around champion; 3.55 overall GPA; 2000 Webster High School graduate.

•Graduate Student Jennifer Stuczynski of Roberts Wesleyan College: 2005 U.S. Indoor Track & Field National Champion in pole vault with 14' 3-1/4" jump (currently #2 effort by American in 2005); final 3.37 undergraduate GPA; from Fredonia.

•Junior Judy Wright of Roberts Wesleyan College: 2005 National Christian College Athletic Association First Team All-American Basketball guard; 2.32 overall GPA; from Syracuse.

The 15 finalists were chosen last week by a 19-person Awards Selection Committee that reviewed 41 nominees submitted by local sports administrators over the past six months.

The WHAM Sportswomen of the Year Awards Luncheon, which raises funds for the Heart of Gold Children's Foundation, will have 2004 Olympic Soccer Gold Medalist Abby Wambach as its featured head table speaker. Wambach's appearance is courtesy of Frontier.