All American candidates are nominated by their high school coach, and are exemplary athletes and highly accomplished lacrosse players. It is one of the highest honors, and gives national recognition to our HS girls. 2004 is the fourth year that we have qualified to nominate athletes for this honor, and this year, due to the drop in participation of USLacrosse membership by our Nor Cal Coaches, where they registered as "HEAD COACH of Girls HS Varsity", the number of AAs we are granted has decreased from 5 to 4! Since we are granted an equal number of Honorable Mention honorees, this decreases the total number of players to 8 (from 10)...As a community, we should be very proud of our student-athletes, and I do hope that next year we will have 100% renewals (and new registrations) by Head Coaches where they keep up their status as such with USL each year. Enormous thanks to the 23 who are confirmed in good standing. It is critical for the girls' recognition!! Just FYI, if all 38 girls’ varsity coaches were registered with USL as HCs (by 4/1/04), we would have had 7 first team honorees this year, and 7 honorable mentions – for a total of 14; a big difference. Something to keep in mind….

For Academic All Americans, there is no official limit, as to how many nominees Nor Cal (or any chapter) may put forth. Candidates are again, nominated by their coach. We want to be sure that the basic criteria are observed, since the honor should not be taken (or given out) lightly. Each candidate must be a junior or a senior, with a weighted GPA of 3.6 (out of 4), including 50% honors or AP classes. They must also be a starter or significant contributor on varsity, AND they must also have significant contributions to their school/community (outside of athletic team/s) detailed on the nomination form. We have been advised to look carefully at each applicant, and to use sound judgment when making decisions about honorees. This year, we are happy to announce that we have 31 Academic All American nominees in Nor Cal from 10 different schools (the most ever for our chapter).

Thanks to all of the coaches who took the time to fill out the nomination forms, obtained the proper signature/s, and for submitting them by the required deadline.

Congratulations to ALL of our 2004 Northern California All American and Academic All American honorees. We are VERY proud of you!

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2004 All Americans (listed alphabetically)
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First Team:
Cristen Andrews, Midfield, 2004, Foothill HS
Chrissy Guibara, Midfield, 2004, Menlo School
Julia Martin, Midfield, 2005, Menlo School
Sarah Rachmiel, Line Attack, Foothill, 2004

Honorable Mention:
Shari Brokowsky, Goalkeeper, Foothill, 2004
Jessica Luckhardt, Midfield, San Ramon Valley, 2005
Ashley Porter, Midfield, Menlo, 2004
Grace Sampson, Line Attack, Berkeley, 2005

Cristen Andrews is off to UC Berkeley, Chrissy Guibara heads to UCLA, Sarah Rachmiel is undecided, Shari Brokowsky will attend Whittier, and Ashley Porter will go to University of Colorado, Boulder. We wish them luck, and lots of lacrosse in their futures. There were many talented student athletes nominated for this honor, and we offer congratulations to each and every one!

2004 Academic All Americans: (31)
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Christine Abraham, Gunn, 2005
Cristen Andrews, Foothill, 2004
Sascha Atkins-Loria, Berkeley, 2004
Rachel Brink, Berkeley, 2004
Elissa Brown, Gunn, 2005
Charlene Chong, Bishop O’Dowd, 2004
Caroline Crandall, Menlo, 2005
Bethany Curd, Menlo, 2004
Meredith Gaber, Berkeley HS, 2004
Molly Gaebler, Berkeley, 2004
Mary Garrison, Marin Catholic, 2004
Chrissy Guibara, Menlo, 2004
Meghan Horn, St. Ignatius, 2005
Juliette Jardim, Berkeley, 2004
Erica Jue, San Ramon Valley, 2005
Kate Kosco, Gunn, 2005
Anne Leach, Stevenson, 2004
Fiona Lundy, Bishop O’Dowd, 2004
Emily Maxwell, Bishop O’Dowd, 2004
Katie Moran, St. Ignatius, 2005
Salvatora Muzio, SF University, 2005
Alexandra Pauley, Berkeley, 2004
Jacqueline Pugh, Foothill, 2004
Natalie Pukatch, Bishop O’Dowd, 2004
Sarah Rachmiel, Foothill, 2004
Stephanie Soo Hoo, San Ramon Valley, 2005
Rebecca Tisdale, Gunn, 2005
Kristy Torgerson, San Ramon Valley, 2004
Margaret Waltner, Berkeley, 2004
Kelly Wood, Stevenson, 2004
Stephanie Wu, Gunn, 2005

Congratulations to this group of outstanding young women, on the field, in the classroom, and beyond.
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Certificates for Academic All Americans will be mailed directly to the
athlete in the near future. Certificates for All Americans are mailed out
by USLacrosse directly.

All honorees will be listed on US Lacrosse's website, later this
month. When the names are posted on the US site, then it is truly official. The website is: www.lacrosse.org.