May 20, 2005

EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern sophomore lacrosse player Kristen Kjellman is one of five finalists left for the 2005 Tewaaraton Trophy. The announcement was made Thursday afternoon by the Tewaaraton Award Foundation.

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The Tewaaraton Trophy is given annually to the top lacrosse player in the nation -- basically, the college lacrosse world's equivalent of the Heisman Trophy -- and is given to one male and one female. The winners will be announced at the Tewaaraton Trophy banquet on June 2 in Washington, D.C.

Kjellman is joined as a finalist by 2004 Tewaaraton winner Amy Appelt (Virginia), Katieanne Christian (Dartmouth), Katie Chrest (Duke) and Lindsey Biles (Princeton). The list was cut to five from 18; Northwestern's Courtney Koester and Lindsey Munday were dropped in the paring.

Kjellman has been the leader for the No. 1-ranked Wildcats all season. The sophomore was named American Lacrosse Conference (ALC) Player of the Year and first-team All-ALC last week, and on Wednesday she received IWLCA first-team All-Region honors.

Kjellman leads the team with 52 goals -- one shy of her own modern-era record -- and has 32 assists for 84 points, which places her behind only Munday on the team. In the national stats, Kjellman is third in points per game (4.67), ninth in assists per game (1.78), and 20th in goals per game (2.89). In addition, she is ninth in the country with 3.39 draw controls per game.

Kjellman scored six goals and added six assists vs. Connecticut during the regular season for 12 points, which is the high by any Division I player this season, and she had eight points in the Wildcats' win over No. 2 Duke during the regular season. In two NCAA Championship games to date, she has four goals and an assist. The Wildcats play Dartmouth tonight in an NCAA semifinal at Annapolis, Md.