Jan. 13, 2004

Winston-Salem, NC - Wake Forest's head field hockey coach, Jennifer Averill received the 2003 National Coach of the Year award, as announced by Dita and the National Field Hockey Coaches Association on Monday. Averill, who lead her Demon Deacons to back-to-back national championships, receives the award for the second consecutive year.

In 2003, Averill and company posted a 22-1 record, an ACC regular season title, the ACC Tournament crown, a fourth consecutive Final Four and the NCAA championship.

Wake Forest's NCAA championships in 2002 and 2003 are the first and second national titles recorded by a Deacon women's team. The championships are the first national back-to-back titles by a Wake Forest team since the men's golf team won crowns in 1974 and 1975. No other team in Wake Forest history has clinched the regular season ACC title, the ACC Tournament title, and the National Championship in the same year. Averill's Deacons have accomplished the feat two years in a row.

In her twelve seasons at Wake Forest, Coach Averill has guided the Deacon squad to a 156-84-3 record, two ACC Championships, four consecutive final four appearances, and two national championships. She has been named ACC Coach of the Year three times (1999, 2002, 2003), the NFHCA South Regional Coach of the Year three times (1999, 2002, 2003) and twice named the NFHCA National Coach of the Year (2002, 2003).