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NCAA News Release

NCAA Announces 2008 NCAA Silver Anniversary Award Recipients

For Immediate Release

Monday, November 19, 2007
Contact(s)

Jennifer Kearns

Associate Director of Public and Media Relations

317/917-6117


INDIANAPOLIS---Seven former NCAA student-athletes have been named recipients of the 2008 NCAA Silver Anniversary Award.

The award recognizes former student-athletes who completed successful collegiate careers in various sports and have excelled in their chosen professions. The Silver Anniversary Award acknowledges the former student-athletes on their 25th anniversary of completing their athletics eligibility.  

The awards will be presented at the 43rd annual NCAA Honors Celebration on Sunday, January 13, during the annual NCAA Convention in Nashville, Tennessee.

Recipients were chosen by the NCAA Honors Committee, which is composed of athletics administrators and nationally distinguished citizens who also were former student-athletes.

The 2008 NCAA Silver Anniversary Award honorees are: Theresa Andrews (University of Florida, swimming); Todd Blackledge (Pennsylvania State University, football); Cormac Carney (University of California, Los Angeles, football); Anne Donovan (Old Dominion University, basketball); Dot Richardson (University of California, Los Angeles, softball and basketball); Robin Roberts (Southeastern Louisiana University, basketball); and Bob Woodruff (Colgate University, lacrosse).

Following are biographical sketches of the 2008 award winners:

Theresa Andrews Theresa Andrews Photo

University of Florida

Swimming

Therapeutic Recreation

Vice President of Consumer Market Manager in Consumer Banking, Bank of America

 

A three-time NCAA champion and 18-time all-American, Andrews helped Florida win its first NCAA women’s swimming and diving national championship in 1982. She also captured back-to-back Southeastern Conference titles in the 50-yard and 100-yard backstroke and was part of four relay conference title winning relay teams in 1982 and 1983.

As a member of the Indiana University, Bloomington, squad during the 1980-81 season, Andrews won six Big Ten titles and participated in six events at the 1981 Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women championships. Andrews went on to earn gold medals in the 100m backstroke and as part of the 400m medley relay team at the 1984 Olympics.

Andrews has been part of MBNA and Bank of America since 1999. As Bank of America’s Vice President, Consumer Market Manager in Consumer Banking, she is responsible for overseeing sales, service, operations and people for 15 banking centers in Pennsylvania and Delaware. Andrews formerly served as a senior clinical social worker at the University of Virginia Health Science Center from 1992 to 1999.

Andrews has volunteered with the U.S. Olympic Alumni Association since 1984 and a board member of the North Baltimore Aquatic Swim Club since 2005. She also is a five-time participant in Swim Across America, Inc., a program that raises money and awareness for cancer research, prevention and treatment through swimming related events.

Todd Blackledge

Pennsylvania State University Todd Blackledge Photo

Football

Speech Communications

ESPN/ABC Analyst

Blackledge established 26 school records as quarterback at Penn State. As the Nittany Lions’ starter from 1980 to 1982, he led Penn State to a 29-4 record, two Fiesta Bowl wins and the 1983 national championship with a victory over then No. 1 University of Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. As the 1982 Davey O’Brien Award winner as the nation’s top college quarterback, he designated the accompanying $10,000 scholarship go to the Penn State Renaissance Fund, which aided tuition costs for lower income students.

The first team CoSIDA academic all-American and Phi Beta Kappa selection was the 7th overall pick in the first round of the 1983 NFL draft and the first Nittany Lion quarterback to go in the first round. Blackledge threw for 5,286 yards and 29 touchdowns in a 7-year NFL career with the Kansas City Chiefs (1983-87) and Pittsburgh Steelers (1988 and 1989).

After working as an analyst for Big East Conference football games from 1991 to 1993, Blackledge joined ABC Sports and later moved to ESPN in 1997 and 1998. Following a stint at CBS Sports, he rejoined ESPN in 2006 and serves as the lead analyst for ESPN College Football Saturday Primetime and contributes to ESPN’s SportsCenter, College GameDay, ESPN.com and ESPN radio.

A 2004 Emmy Award nominee for Outstanding Sports Personality—Sports Event Analyst, Blackledge is an assistant varsity basketball coach at his former high school and has been a Little League and youth basketball coach for the past four years.

The Honorable Cormac Carney

University of California, Los Angeles

Football

Psychology

U.S. District Judge

Cormac Carney Photo

A three-year starting wide receiver and a two-time first team all-Pacific-10 Conference selection in 1981 and 1982, Carney finished his career as the Bruins all-time leading receiver and remains tied for No. 11 with 108 receptions for 1,909 yards and eight touchdowns. A transfer from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1980, Carney led the Bruins in receiving in each of his three seasons at UCLA and helped the program compile a record of 26-7-2.

A 1982 NCAA Today’s Top V selection, two-time first team academic all-American and an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship winner, Carney graduated from Harvard Law School in 1987.

Carney was nominated to the federal bench by President George W. Bush in January of 2003 and confirmed by the Senate in April of the same year. As a federal judge, he handles complex civil and criminal matters including patents, copyrights, trademarks, securities, business finance, civil rights, drug conspiracies and white collar crimes. Prior to his most recent appointment, Carney was a California Superior Court judge appointed by Governor Gray Davis in 2001. He also practiced business litigation with the firm of O’Melveny & Myers from 1991 to 2001.

Currently director of the board of directors for the UCLA Alumni Association, Carney also is highly involved with the Federal Bar Association, Orange County Bar Association and the Association of Business Trial Lawyers.

Anne Donovan

Old Dominion University Anne Donovan Photo

Basketball

Recreation Services

Head Coach, WNBA Seattle Storm and 2008 USA Women’s Basketball Team

Winner of the 1983 Naismith Trophy as the national player of the year, Donovan led Old Dominion to the 1980 AIAW national championship and to appearances in the 1981 AIAW and 1983 NCAA Women’s Final Fours. The two-time Kodak all-American led the nation in blocked shots for four straight years and also led the nation in rebounds in 1982.


Donovan, a two-time CoSIDA academic all-American and a recipient of an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, earned gold medals at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics as a member of the U.S. Women’s Basketball National Team. She was also a member of the 1980 Olympic Team, although it boycotted the games in Moscow. She also was an assistant coach on the 2004 Olympic gold-medal winning squad.

Currently head coach of the WNBA’s Seattle Storm, Donovan guided the team to the 2004 WNBA championship and previously directed the now defunct Charlotte Sting to an appearance in the 2001 WNBA finals. The first woman to win more than 100 games in the WNBA, she is a Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, an inductee of the CoSIDA Academic All-American Hall of Fame and a Naismith Hall of Fame inductee.

Donovan is the co-author of a book on post play, is a member of the Seattle Storm’s Reading Timeout program and participates in the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. She is also the 2008 USA Women’s Olympic Basketball Coach.

Dot Richardson M.D.

University of California, Los Angeles

Softball and basketball

Kinesiology and Pre-Medicine

Director and Medical Director, National Training Center Dr. Dot Richardson Photo

Richardson, a three-time all-American shortstop at UCLA, named co-UCLA Athlete of the Year (with Jackie Joyner Kersee), helped the Bruins win the 1982 NCAA national championship and was twice selected to the all-Women’s College World Series team. The NCAA Player of the Decade (1980s), she batted .367 for her career.


As a member of the U.S. National Women’s Softball Team, Richardson is a two-time Olympic gold medalist (1996, 2000) and five-time Pan American Games gold medalist (1979, 1983, 1987, 1995, 1999) and five-time World Champion (1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998). A four-time selection as USA Softball’s Most Valuable Player, Richardson was named as the United States Olympic Committee’s Athlete of the Year and the Amateur Athletic Foundation Awards Southern California Athlete of the Year in 1996. She was four-time Sullivan Award nominee for outstanding amateur athlete in the United States and has earned numerous awards for community leadership. Additionally, Richardson was selected to the NCAA’s 100 Most Influential Student-Athletes (#43), ASA Hall of Fame (2007), State of Florida Hall of Fame (1999), and the UCLA Hall of Fame (1996).

Richardson is currently the Director and Medical Director of National Training Center. She also is vice chairman of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, an advisory group to the president and Secretary of Health and Human Services that focuses on ways to encourage Americans to be physically active, participate in sports and raise awareness of the dangers of obesity. Richardson also has produced a library of softball instructional videotapes and has designed and implemented softball camps and clinics in more than 50 cities nationwide and is the co-founder and commissioner of the ProFastpitch X-treme Tour which is the professional level in the sport of fastpitch softball that brings amateur and professional athletes in the sport torgether to meet and compete at the same event.


Robin Roberts

Southeastern Louisiana University

Basketball

Speech Communications

TV Anchor/Correspondent, ABC News Robin Roberts Photo

A standout on the women’s basketball team at Southeastern Louisiana, Roberts finished third on the school’s list of career all-time leading scorers (1,446) and rebounders (1,034). She also was one of the only Lady Lions to score 1,000 points and grab 1,000 rebounds for her career.

Roberts began her rise in broadcasting while in college at WHMD/WFPR Radio in Hammond, Louisiana, where she served as the sports director. As a frequent and versatile contributor to ESPN from 1990 to 2005, she hosted SportsCenter, contributed to NFL PrimeTime and worked as a play-by-play commentator and host for the network’s WNBA games and specials. She also was the primary reporter for ESPN’s coverage of the Winter and Summer Olympic Games, the NCAA Men’s Final Four, NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship and LPGA events.

A contributor to ABC News’ “Good Morning America,” since June of 1995, Roberts became a co-anchor for the morning news show in 2005. She also has hosted  ABC’s Wide World of Sports.

The recipient of multiple honors, she was named as a “Louisiana Legend” in 2001 by the Louisiana Public Broadcasting and, in 1996, she earned the Distinguished Achievement Award in Broadcasting from the University of Georgia’s DiGamma Kappa, the nation’s oldest professional broadcasting society. Roberts is a frequent speaker/host for NCAA events, including the NCAA Woman of the Year Award dinner and the NCAA Women's Final Four Salute Dinner, and published her first book, From the Heart: Seven Rules to Live By, in March of 2007.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer in July 2007 and since has been active in bringing attention and awareness to the disease. She recently traveled with First Lady Laura Bush to the Middle East on her global breast cancer awareness initiative.

Bob Woodruff

Colgate University

Lacrosse

English

ABC News Anchor Bob Woodruff Photo

A four-time varsity letter-winner in lacrosse at Colgate, Woodruff is the Raiders career record holder in goals (184) and points scored in a single season (82). He also ranks second in career points and single-season goals scored.

Woodruff earned a law degree from the University of Michigan Law School, where he also managed a charity called Jazz for Life, which raised money for inner-city schools.

Woodruff joined ABC News in 1996 and was named co-anchor of the network’s “World News Tonight” in December of 2005. As the anchor of the weekend edition of the news show, he has covered major stories such as the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Asian tsunami and, in 2005, gained unprecedented access to North Korea. He earned an Alfred I. duPont Award, one of the highest honors in broadcast journalism, for his coverage of Pope John Paul II’s death.

On January 29, 2006, Woodruff sustained serious injuries in a roadside bomb in Iraq while reporting on American and Iraqi security forces. A year later, Woodruff and his wife, Lee, co-wrote a memoir, “In an Instant,” chronicling the experience. The family also established the Bob Woodruff Fund for Traumatic Brain Injury to raise money to help members of the military with rehabilitation and care after suffering traumatic brain injuries in service to the country. In addition, for the past seven years, Woodruff has served on the board of Kid Save, an organization that helps older orphans in the Soviet Union, South America and the United States become adopted in America.

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