Eleni Kafourou, Kayleen McDowell,
Megan Olivetti, Hannah Redmon and Pichittra Thongdach and have brought
numerous achievements and memories to Bronco fans over the past year. Now,
the five vie for your vote for 2008-09 Bronco Female Athlete of the Year.
BroncoCountry members vote each
spring in the Bronco of the Year awards which feature four categories:
Male Athlete of the Year, Female Athlete of the Year, Coach of the Year and Team
of the Year.
Kafourou began the year with two
victories at the Jackson's Open, taking the long jump with a leap of 20'
0.50" and flying through the triple jump to a destination of 40'
0.75". Kafourou improved upon both of those marks in winning the long
jump (20' 3.75") and the triple ( 42' 2.25") at the Blue and Orange
Classic. Eleni recorded two more victories at the Bronco Invite (20'
3") and ( 43' 5"), breaking her own school record of 43' in the triple
and then captured the triple at the Boise State Team Invite (42' 5.50").
Kafourou was named WAC Female
Field Athlete of the Year at the Indoor Championships as she won the long jump
(19' 10.75") just missed breaking the WAC record in winning the triple
(43' 7") and finished second in the 60-meter dash (7.63) in the only
60-meters she had run competitively this season.
Kafourou recorded the first women's
national championship in school history by soaring (21' 5.25" in the
long jump and finished seventh in the triple (43' 0.25") at the NCAA
Indoor Championships. She redshirted for the Broncos in the outdoor
season.
Olivetti helped the 4 x 400-meter relay team win the Jackson's Open, the Blue and Orange Classic, the United Heritage
Invite and the Bronco Team Invite. She also took the 60-meter hurdle title
(8.79) and finished fifth in the long jump (17' 5.50") at the Blue and
Orange Classic . Olivetti broke the 24-year old school record of 8.67 set
by Karla Jacoby and Tosha Bailey in the 60-meter hurdles at the Bronco Invite
(8.60), then bettered that by winning the United Heritage (8.58) and then
she also captured the 60 hurdles at the Boise State Team Invite (8.71).
Olivetti also won the pentathlon (3,386 points) at the Bronco Invite in the
first multi-event of her career and repeated the feat by scoring 3,549 points at
the Boise State Team invite.
Olivetti finished fourth in the WAC in
the 60-meter hurdles (8.52) , third in the pentathlon (3,600 points) and helped
the 4 x 400-meter relay team finish second in helping Boise State to a third
place finish at the WAC Indoor Championships. Olivetti also redshirted
this spring.
Senior McDowell won the
800-meters at the BYU Robinson Invitational in a season-best time of 2:09.71 and
qualified for the NCAA Regional Championships. She also won the 800 at the
Blue and Orange Classic (2:13.88).
McDowell won the 800 at both the WAC
Indoor Championships (2:12.07) and the WAC Outdoor Championships (2:10.47),
marking three consecutive conference 800 titles. McDowell also ran the
anchor leg for the Bronco 4 x 400-meter relay team that finished second at the
WAC Indoor Championships (3:47.16).
Redmon recorded a career high on vault
(9.950) against Southern Utah, the fourth best score in school history, as the
Bronco team broke a school record. It was Redmon's ninth career title on
vault, ranking Redmon fifth all-time in vault wins. She also tied a career
high in winning the floor exercise with a 9.925 score and won on bars also with
a 9.850. 
Redmon was
named the WAC Specialist of the Week for her accomplishments.
Redmon
helped the Broncos to their second consecutive league title in Sacramento and
their seventh best team score in school history. Boise State posted its
fifth best floor score of all-time. Redmon was one of the key reasons with
a 9.875 on floor, which tied for second in the WAC. Redmon was named to
the All-WAC team for the second consecutive year on floor and was also All-WAC
for uneven bars. She held the lead until the final rotation but still finished
tied with teammate Mallory Dziawura for second place with a career high 9.875.
Redmon also tied for fifth on vault with a 9.850, earning second team All-WAC
Redmon
and the Broncos recorded their highest-ever finish at the NCAA Regionals
finishing third. Redmon finished sixth in the region on floor (9.875) and
tied for sixth on bars (9.850) .
Thongdach compiled a 32-9 mark in
singles play for the WAC tennis runners-up, including a 3-4 mark vs.
nationally-ranked players. Thongdach 33-6 in doubles play, including a
23-5 record with teammate Lauren Megale at #1 doubles.
Pichittra was the #80 singles player in
the country. She teamed with Megale to win their first-round match of the
WAC Tournament 8-0 and was leading her singles match 6-4 when the Broncos won
the doubles point. She
shocked #16 Melanie Glorida of Fresno State 6,1, 7-5 in the WAC finals.
Thongdach was named to the All-WAC team in both singles and doubles.
Thongdach and the Broncos shocked #24 Alabama in the opening round of the NCAA National Tennis Tournament before losing to Georgia. It was the first-ever NCAA Tournament win for the program.
Which of these five deserving ladies
gets your vote for the 2008-09 Bronco Female Athlete of the Year? Go to
the Blue Turf Board on BroncoCountry to vote!