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Burlington, Vt. – Bentley University senior field hockey player Alyssa Sliney (Brewster, Mass.) and Franklin Pierce University senior women's basketball player Johannah Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England) were named the 2009-2010 Northeast-10 Women of the Year as selected by the Senior Woman Administrator (SWA) Council. Sliney and Leedham were honored Monday evening at the conference's end of the year awards banquet in Burlington, Vt.
Both athletes will now be forwarded as the conference's nominees for the NCAA Woman of the Year award.
Sliney was a four year member of the field hockey team at Bentley. A three-time NE-10 Goalkeeper of the Year, Sliney finished her senior season with a 16-5 record and posted a 1.43 goals against average to go along with five shutouts. She helped lead the Falcons to two straight Northeast-10 Championships and four consecutive NCAA appearances.
Sliney finished her career third in school history in wins and shutouts and fifth in goals against average. She is also a three-time Northeast-10 Academic All-Conference selection and a four-time NFHCA Division II All-America honoree. Sliney, a computer information systems major, graduated with a 3.76 grade-point average. She was also the recipient of the inaugural Northeast-10 Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence Award for field hockey.
Leedham was a four-year member of the women's basketball team at Franklin Pierce and finished her career as the all-time leading scorer in Division II with 3,050 career points. Leedham, a three-time NE-10 Player of the Year, received her second National Player of the Year honors this season. She finished her senior season averaging 26.9 points per game, tops in Division II, and was among the conference leaders in rebounds (7.9), assists (4.38 apg) and was first in steals (4.21 spg).
"The Franklin Pierce Athletics Department and the entire University would like to congratulate Johannah on this prestigious award said Bruce Kirsh, Director of Athletics at Franklin Pierce. "She is very deserving of the honor, which recognizes her amazing abilities on the court, in the classroom and in the community. Johannah is not only an outstanding basketball player, but an even better person, and that is how I will choose to remember her."
Leedham helped lead the Ravens to two-straight Northeast-10 Championships and three-straight NCAA Division II East Regional titles. Franklin Pierce advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight for the third straight season and made it all the way to the national semifinals this year.
A sports and recreation major, Leedham graduated with a 3.38 grade point average. She is a three-time NE-10 Academic All-Conference selection as well as the recipient of the inaugural Northeast-10 Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence Award for women's basketball.
With 16 member institutions the Northeast-10 shares the distinction of being the largest Division II conference in the country along with the PSAC and WVIAC. Its 23 championship sports provide athletic opportunities for over 5,500 student-athletes, the largest such program of any Division II conference.
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