Publication Date: Friday, July 01, 2005
COLLEGE SPORTS
Normal doesn't describe Stanford's Ogonna Nnamani
Normal doesn't describe Stanford's Ogonna Nnamani
(July 01, 2005) Stanford volleyball All-American is named NCAA's top female athlete
by Keith Peters
The only thing normal about Ogonna Nnamani's athletic career is where it began, in the Illinois community of Normal.
Aside from that, Nnamani's exploits have bordered on the paranormal - as in otherworldly.
Nnamani played on the U.S. Olympic women's (indoor) volleyball team that competed in the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, Greece, then returned to Stanford University and led the Cardinal to the '04 NCAA championship. For that, she was named national co-player of the year.
On Wednesday, Nnamani took it to another level once again as she was named the winner of the Honda-Broderick Cup as the nation's collegiate woman athlete of the year.
"The award isn't representative of my efforts," Nnamani said at her acceptance speech this week at Columbia University in New York, where she received the 29th annual award. "It's more representative of the people around me who supported me throughout the years. Luckily, I've been at the right place at the right time."
Lucky for Stanford.
An outside hitter for the Cardinal, Nnamani was voted the most outstanding player at volleyball's Final Four in December after setting a Pac-10 Conference and school record with 823 kills (that ranks seventh all-time in NCAA history) during the season. She also set an NCAA record with 62 kills in the semifinal and final matches.
Not that Nnamani kept track of such things.
"All I know is our team won in the end," she said.
The outgoing and gracious Nnamani gave credit to just about everyone during her acceptance speech - from family and friends to the award's board of directors.
"I'll send you a check in the mail tomorrow," Nnamani joked.
Nnamani started out as a basketball standout before switching sports during her freshman year in high school, despite the fact she and her sisters could dunk. The move certainly paid off, with Nnamani becoming only the third volleyball player to win the Honda-Broderick Cup.
Of the five finalists, Nnamani was the only one to lead her team to a national championship. Throw in a 3.44 GPA in human biology and Nnamani was, well, a slam dunk.
Nnamani joins past winners that include some of the most talented and accomplished collegiate athletes in recent history, including: Jackie Joyner-Kersee (track & field, 1984); Mia Hamm (soccer, 1994), Cheryl Miller (basketball, 1983) and Ann Meyers (1978, basketball). Stanford swimmer Tara Kirk won the award in 2004.
This year's other finalists included Seimone Augustus of LSU (basketball); Kirsty Coventry of Auburn (swimming); Monique Henderson of UCLA (track & field); and Cat Osterman of Texas (softball).
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