All-American Trio Named Michigan Athletes of the Year

Ann Arbor, Mich. -- A trio of All-American student-athletes have been selected as the 1996-97 University of Michigan Athletes of the Year. Ice hockey standout Brendan Morrison (Pitt Meadows, B.C.) was selected as the Michigan Male Athlete of the Year while softball award winner Kelly Holmes (Canton, MI/Plymouth Canton HS) and swimming standout Anne Kampfe (Decatur, IL/MacArthur HS) were named co-recipient's of the Michigan Female Athlete of the Year award.

Morrison, winner of the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, was three times named to the Titan West All-America First-Team over his U-M career. Holmes, a GTE Academic All-America First-Team honoree, earned All-America Second-Team accolades from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. Kampfe compiled seven All-America and three Honorable Mention All-America citations over her Michigan career.

Biographies of the Three Recipients

Brendan Morrison closed out his career at the University of Michigan as one of the most dynamic and prolific scorers in college ice hockey history. Morrison won nearly every individual award possible in 1996-97, this after winning the national championship for Michigan the previous season with the winning goal in overtime of the championship game. Morrison is recipient of the 1996-97 Michigan Male Athlete of the Year award.

Morrison's senior season saw him lead the nation in scoring with 31-57-88 and be rewarded with the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, emblematic of college hockey's best player. Morrison is Michigan's first recipient of this prestigious honor. Morrison was captain of the Wolverines, who finished the season with a school-record 35-4-4 record and held the nation's No. 1 ranking for all but two weeks of the season.

Morrison's list of awards from his senior season is unmatched: Hobey Baker Memorial Award, Titan West All-America First-Team, Central Collegiate Hockey Association Player of the Year (the first player in the league's 26-year history to earn this honor in two consecutive seasons), All-CCHA First-Team, and Most Valuable Player of the CCHA Tournament, the Great Lakes Invitational (the first player in the GLI's 32-year history to be named three-time MVP) and the College Hockey Showcase.

Morrison became the all-time Michigan assists and points recordholder the weekend of Feb. 14-15 against Notre Dame; he finished his career with 102-182-284, the seventh-most points compiled in NCAA history. Morrison had points in 40 of Michigan's 43 games and was "plus" or "even" in 37 of Michigan's 43 games. He had a point on 88 of the Wolverines' 242 goals, was on the ice for 122 of the Wolverines' 242 goals, and was on the ice for 66 of the Wolverines' 91 power-play goals.

Morrison's defining moment occurred March 30, 1996 in Cincinnati when he nudged in a three-foot shot past sprawling Colorado College goaltender Ryan Bach at 3:35 of the first overtime, enabling the Wolverines to beat the Tigers, 3-2, and claim their first national championship in 32 years. His career feats are unparalleled: three times a Hobey Baker Memorial Award finalist, three times named to the Titan West All-America First-Team, three times an All-CCHA selection and a playoff point-scoring clip of 2.17 points-per game (50 points in 23 playoff games). Morrison was named The Hockey News U.S. College Player of the Year and the College Sports Magazine Men's Ice Hockey Athlete of the Year in 1995-96. Morrison led the nation in total assists (53) and points (76) his sophomore year. He was named the CCHA Rookie of the Year and to the Bauer CCHA All-Rookie Team his freshman year.

Morrison, a New Jersey Devils second round (39th overall) draft selection in 1993, is an economics major who was heavily involved in off-ice activities. He was part of a Student-Athlete Community Relations Committee which created SHARE (Student-Athletes Helping to Achieve Reading Excellence), a reading program in the Ann Arbor elementary schools. He joined teammates in visits to Mott Children's Hospital and spoke out against drugs and alcohol as part of the DARE program (Drug Abuse Resistance Education).

After competing in the shadows of two All-American pitchers in her first three seasons of collegiate softball, University of Michigan senior Kelly Holmes came into the spotlight to lead the Wolverines to a school record winning season and a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Women's College World Series in 1997. Holmes is a co-recipient of the 1996-97 Michigan Female Athlete of the Year award.

Holmes began her final season as Michigan's number two pitcher behind Sara Griffin, and compiled an 8-4 record over the first six weeks of the season. After Griffin went out for the year with a broken arm in early April, Holmes took over the starting pitcher's role and put together one of Michigan's finest leadership performances. Holmes orchestrated a 25-4 record over the last seven weeks of the season to finish 33-8 for the year and 76-27 for her career. Among her last 25 wins was a string of 22 straight victories, including seven shutouts and six one-run decisions, between April 8 and May 18.

With a 1.07 ERA and a league-best 15-1 record in conference play, Holmes carried the Wolverines to a second-place finish in the Big Ten Conference regular-season standings and threw all three wins to lead U-M to a third straight Big Ten Tournament championship. Holmes, Most Valuable Player of the NCAA Region 6 Tournament, led Michigan to its third consecutive NCAA Women's College World Series trip with two-shutouts (including a one-hitter) and 14-strikeouts over the four regional games. The Wolverines finished their school-record 56-16-1 season fifth at the WCWS with Holmes going 1-2 in the tournament. Her win was a 1-0 complete game shutout of No. 2-seeded South Carolina.

Holmes has been the recipient of numerous awards following her 1997 season. She was named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-America Second-Team and Great Lakes Region First-Team; the Big Ten Conference Pitcher of the Year, All-Big Ten First-Team and twice Big Ten Pitcher of the Week (April 21, April 28); and Michigan Outstanding Pitcher and Outstanding Player.

Off the field, Holmes excelled in the classroom. She graduated in early May from the Michigan School of Business with a degree in accounting, and will work as an auditor with Plante and Moran in Southfield, Mich. A three-time Academic All-Big Ten and four-time Michigan Athletic Academic Achievement honoree, Holmes capped her academic and softball careers as a GTE Academic All-America First-Team and the GTE Academic All-District IV First-Team selection. She was a GTE Academic All-America Second-Team award winner as a junior.

Holmes completes her Michigan softball career as the all-time winning pitcher with 76 victories. She posted the record-setting victory with a 1-0 five-strikeout win versus Clevelend State in the May 16 regional tournament opener. Holmes ranks second all-time in innings pitched (731.0), third in shutouts (30) and fourth in both career winning percentage (.738) and strikeouts (361). Her 1997 statistics put her atop the Michigan season innings pitched list (272.0), second in wins (33), third in shutouts (12), fourth in strikeouts (152) and sixth in season winning percentage (.805). She closed the year recording five or more strikeouts in 11 games and posted a season career-best 1.16 ERA.

An exemplary student-athlete, Anne Kampfe consistently led the Wolverines as they captured four of their 11 consecutive Big Ten Conference women's swimming and diving team titles with her assistance. Michigan also saw a rise in national acclaim while Kamfe competed, becoming the first team to break into the "Top 3" (Stanford, Florida, Texas) at the NCAA National Women's Swimming and Diving Championships, and placing eighth, second, third and sixth at the NCAA meet during Kampfe's tenure. Kampfe is a co-recipient of the 1996-97 Michigan Female Athlete of the Year award.

A senior, Kampfe concluded her U-M athletic career as a seven-time All-American, three-time Honorable Mention All-American and five-time Big Ten champion. Kampfe is the only Wolverine in women's swimming history to earn All-America honors four times in one event, accomplishing the feat by finishing no lower than fifth-place in the 400 individual medley at the NCAA National Championships in each of her four seasons.

Kampfe was one of four 1996-97 team captains. She had her most successful Big Ten championship, winning titles in the 200 backstroke, 400 individual medley and 800 freestyle relay, and setting the Big Ten meet record in the 400 individual medley. Her 400 individual medley title was her third in the event; the 200 backstroke and relay titles were her first in both events. One month later at the NCAA meet, Kampfe earned three All-America citations in the 400 individual medley (third), 200 backstroke (sixth) and 800 freestyle relay (fifth).

Kampfe was the Wolverines' highest finisher at the 1996 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, falling two places shy of a spot on the Olympic squad. Just prior to the trials, Kampfe had claimed the 400 individual medley title and finished runner-up in the 200 backstroke at the Big Ten Championships. Two weeks following the trials, she earned All-America honors in the 200 backstroke and 400 individual medley. As a sophomore, Kampfe helped the Wolverines to a best-ever second-place finish at the NCAA Championships, finishing third in the 400 individual medley despite a bout with pneumonia that week. As a freshman, she was the Big Ten 400 individual medley. She turned in her best-ever individual finish at the NCAA Championships with a runner-up showing in the 400 individual medley.

Kampfe has excelled academically as well as athletically. Scheduled to graduate in December 1997, she is a two-time College Swimming Coaches Association All-Academic team member, a 1997 GTE Academic All-District IV Fall/Winter At-Large selection, and a three-time Academic All-Big Ten Conference honoree. Kampfe plans to attend graduate school to pursue a master's degree in either sports management or communication.

At Michigan, Kampfe has been active in the community in numerous capacities. She visits patients at the Mott's Childrens Hospital weekly as well as participating in SHARE, a reading program for elementary schools in the Ann Arbor area. She is a member of Athletes in Action, and is in charge of community relations for M-PACT (Michigan Peer Athletes Creating Trust) to help develop a positive image of Michigan student-athletes in the community.