PISCATAWAY, NJ – Rutgers women’s lacrosse senior Kristin Checksfield (Collingwood, NJ) was a unanimous selection to the 2003 Preseason All-BIG EAST Women’s Lacrosse team, the league office announced.

Checksfield, a tri-captain of the 2003 squad, was the 2002 BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year after leading the conference in caused turnovers the entire season, both in the overall statistics (41) and conference-only (18) numbers. A repeating member of the conference preseason team, Checksfield finished her junior campaign eighth in the nation for caused turnovers and was a first-team selection to the Mid-Atlantic Region
All-America Team. She also wove her way into the Rutgers’ records, tying for fourth place for career caused turnovers with 75, and was named the Rutgers Co-MVP for the 2002 season.

The Scarlet Knights were picked to finish tied for sixth in the conference after a fifth place finish of 7-9, 2-4 in the BIG EAST in 2002. Georgetown, the national runner-up, was the top choice in the conference, receiving six first-place votes. Notre Dame was second, receiving one first-place vote, followed by Syracuse and Connecticut. Virginia Tech was fifth in the voting, while the Scarlet Knights and Boston College tied for sixth in the voting of league coaches.

Syracuse’s Leigh-Ann Zimmer was chosen as the BIG EAST’s Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, while Melissa Biles of Georgetown was the defensive award winner.

The Scarlet Knights return 18 letterwinners, including 10 of 12 starters. Among those returning are the top four scorers from a year ago: junior Cristina Curiale (Summit, NJ), junior Cali Wojdyla (Liverpool, NY), senior Melissa Mosey (Skaneateles, NY) and senior Kate Slotman (Moorestown, NJ).

Rutgers will open the 2003 season on Saturday, March 1, at Virginia Tech at 2 p.m. The Knights will play their first home match of the season on Tuesday, March 11, at
3:30 p.m., hosting Delaware.

PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST TEAM
*Melissa Biles, GU, Sr., D
*Kristin Checksfield, RU, Sr., D
*Gloria Lozano, GU, Jr., M
Tracy Mullaney, UC, So., A
*Danielle Shearer, ND, Sr., M
*Wick Stanwick, GU, Sr., A
*Sam Sybert, VT, Sr., M
Jess Trombley, SU, Sr., M
Kim Wayne, SU, Sr., M
*Jen White, ND, Sr., G
Jackie Yovankin, BC, So., M
*Leigh-Ann Zimmer, SU, Jr., A
* - indicates unanimous selection

PRESEASON OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Leigh-Ann Zimmer, Syracuse, Jr., A

PRESEASON DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Melissa Biles, Georgetown, Sr., D

2003 LACROSSE PRESEASON POLL
2002 Records 2002 Regular-Season
School Points Conf. Overall Finish
1. #*Georgetown (6) 36 6-0 17-2 1st
2. Notre Dame (1) 29 5-1 13-5 2nd
3. Syracuse 28 3-3 10-6 tied for 3rd
4. Connecticut 21 3-3 9-7 tied for 3rd
5. Virginia Tech 13 1-5 6-10 tied for 6th
6t. Boston College 10 1-5 8-9 tied for 6th
6t. Rutgers 10 2-4 7-9 5th

First-place votes in parentheses
* - 2002 BIG EAST Champion
# - unanimous selection