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NC State's Rivers, Duke's Beard Named ACC Athletes of the Year
July 22, 2004
GREENSBORO, N.C. - NC State quarterback Philip Rivers and Duke basketball player Alana Beard have been named the Atlantic Coast Conference male and female athletes of the year for the 2003-04 academic year, as voted on by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association. The Anthony J. McKevlin Award, named for a former sports editor of The (Raleigh) News & Observer, is presented to the ACC's top male student-athlete, while the Mary Garber Award, named for a retired Winston-Salem Journal sportswriter, is given to the top female student-athlete. Rivers recorded 38 votes, ahead of Wake Forest golfer Bill Haas who tallied 17 votes. Rounding out the voting for the McKevlin Award was Duke basketball player Chris Duhon who received two votes and Virginia wrestler Scott Moore who collected one vote. In the Garber voting, Beard finished with 39 votes ahead of Virginia lacrosse player Amy Appelt who totaled eight votes. Florida State softball player Jessica van der Linden was third with five votes followed by North Carolina track and field performer Laura Gerraughty who tallied three votes. Rounding out the voting was Maryland lacrosse player Kelly Coppedge, Wake Forest field hockey player Kelly Doton and Georgia Tech track and field performer Chaunte Howard with one vote apiece. Rivers was named a finalist for the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, Johnny Unitas Award, the Hossman Trophy and the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, after being tabbed the unanimous selection for 2003 ACC Player of the Year. The native of Athens, Ala., was a unanimous first-team All-ACC selection, having led the conference in every passing and total offense category. Rivers set the ACC single-season records for total offense, total offense per game, touchdown responsibility, passing yards, TD passes, completion percentage, pass completions and pass attempts and was the national leader in completion percentage and passing efficiency. He closed his career with a remarkable performance against Kansas in the Tangerine Bowl, hitting 37-of-45 passes for a career-high 475 yards, five touchdowns, no interceptions and rushed for 20 yards. Rivers broke school bowl game records and Tangerine Bowl records for passing yards, pass completions, TD passes, completion percentage and total offense, en route to earning MVP honors. Rivers owns school and conference records for career passing attempts (1,710), pass completions (1,087), touchdown responsibility (112), 300-yard passing games (18) and 400-yard passing games (7). A first round pick of the 2004 NFL Draft, selected fourth by the New York Giants and then traded minutes later to the San Diego Chargers, Rivers finished his career as the second leading passer in NCAA history with 13,484 career passing yards, breaking NC State and ACC records. Beard becomes the fourth female athlete to garner the Mary Garber Award in back-to-back years, having been named the ACC Female Athlete of the Year in 2003 as well. The Shreveport, La., native was named the State Farm Wade Trophy, Associated Press, USBWA and ESPN.com National Player of the Year. She became only the second player in NCAA history to be named first team Associated Press All-America on three different occasions and earned first-team Kodak All-America honors for the third straight year as well. Beard, who averaged 19.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 2.4 steals, 1.4 blocks this season, was named the ACC Player of the Year, first-team All-ACC and All-ACC Defensive team. She started all 136 games played in her career, helping Duke to a 126-14 record over four years. She became the first player in ACC history to be named ACC Player of the Year three times and to earn four straight first-team All-ACC selections. Beard garnered 18 career ACC Player of the Week selections, leading the next closest player with seven. She finished her career as Duke's all-time leading scorer with 2,687 point and is the second-leading scorer in ACC history. She was selected as one of the top ten ACC Female Athletes of all time in addition to being named to the ACC 50th Anniversary Women's Basketball team in 2003. The first men's or women's basketball player in NCAA history to register over 2,600 points, 500 assists and 400 steals, Beard's jersey became the first women's jersey retired by Duke University.
Anthony J. McKevlin Award Recipients
1954 -- Joel Shankle, Duke, Track & Field
Mary Garber Award Recipients
1990 -- Shannon Higgins, UNC, Soccer
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