Oct. 31, 2004

Kelly Albin enjoyed a very happy Halloween, becoming UC Davis' third
student-athlete to capture the prestigious NCAA Woman of the Year award.

UC Davis All-American lacrosse player Kelly Albin was selected as the recipient of the 14th-annual NCAA Woman of the Year award, it was announced at an awards banquet at the Westin Hotel Sunday evening. Albin is the third UC Davis student-athlete to capture this award. Track and field standouts Jamila Demby and Tanisha Silas won the honor in 1999 and
2002, respectively.

The NCAA Woman of the Year award recognizes women in intercollegiate
athletics for their outstanding achievements in athletics, academics and
community service. After selecting one student-athlete from each of the 50
states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, the NCAA pared the
list down to 10 finalists on September 17.

"The first word of my speech was `wow', which pretty much says it all," said
Albin. "I feel like a PGA Tour golfer who just won the Masters green jacket.
I'm very flattered and honored to be chosen among such an amazing group of
people with such long lists of accomplishments."

The Fort Bragg, Calif. native was the fifth Aggie to reach the top 10 and
the sixth to represent California in the 14-year history of NCAA Woman of
the Year program. In addition to the three UC Davis winners, track and field
athlete Kameelah Elarms and softball player Susan Churchwell were honored as
finalists in 2001 and 2003, respectively. Soccer star Kim Haskell was the
first Aggie student-athlete to be honored. She was the California state
winner in 1997.

The awards banquet concluded a three-day celebration that featured visits by
all 52 competitors to Indianapolis-area schools as part of the NCAA's Youth
Education through Sports (YES) program. Former UCLA softball player Dot
Richardson and Oklahoma head women's basketball coach Sherri Coale served as
event hosts.

"When you think about the national scope of this award and the more than 350
institutions is represents, to have three winners is enormous," said UC
Davis senior associate athletics director Pam Gill-Fisher, who has served on
past selection committees for the award. "It is a statement for what the
university stands for philosophically, from the Chancellor on down. It's an
honor both for Kelly as an individual and for UC Davis as an institution."

Albin graduated magna cum laude from UC Davis in March, earning her degree
in food science. She was awarded a UC Davis Department Citation as the top
graduating senior, finishing with a 3.95 composite grade-point average. She
recently begun her work toward a master's degree in food science at UC
Davis.

As a scholar-athlete, Albin claimed nearly every possible award during her
senior year. She was selected as the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse
Coaches Association Division II Scholar-Athlete of the Year on the very day
that she won the university's W.P. Lindley Award, bestowed upon the campus's
top scholar-athlete. Albin also won her second straight CoSIDA Academic
All-America award and was selected to both the Mountain Pacific Sports
Federation Academic All-Conference team and the IWLCA All-Academic Team.

"To have Kelly win the NCAA Woman of the Year award tells us that the
university focuses on the right thing, which is the balance of achievement
not just on the field, but also in the classroom and in the community," said
Judy Sakaki, UC Davis Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs.

On the field, Albin appeared on three All-America first teams: by Inside
Lacrosse magazine, the IWLCA and the webzine womenslacrosse.com. She set a
school record of 29 assists to go with her career-best 43 goals, helping
lead the Aggies to a 12-5 record and a No. 2 ranking in the final IL
Division II Power Poll. She holds school career records of 71 assists and
147 ground balls, and ranks among UC Davis' all-time leaders in goals,
points, shots, draw controls and shooting percentage.

Albin also served as coordinator for UC Davis' Peer Counselors in Athletics,
supervising and training more than 20 interns and organizing all PCA events.
Additionally, she spent the Fall 2003 academic quarter in Urubamba, Peru as
a volunteer for the ProPERU Service Corps. Accomplished as a musician, she
was a flautist for both a university septet and an ensemble in her hometown,
the latter of which performed at churches and senior citizen homes.

Albin was one of two lacrosse players to reach the final 10, joining Melissa
Block of Virginia's Mary Washington College. The other finalists comprised
swimmers Julie Hardt from Georgia, Megan Grunert of Indianapolis and Kayla
Heising from College of Wooster (Ohio); track and field athletes Abbey
Elsberry of Boise State, Sherita Williams of Michigan State, Shana Robinson
from Tulsa and Kinsey Coles of North Dakota State; and soccer player Imani
Dorsey of the University of Portland.

The ceremony will be broadcast on ESPN in early December.