Rajkumar & Kreitz Named 2002 Michael Karvasales '35 Senior Women Athletes of the Year

by Sports Information
5/1/02

Lancaster, PA - Two time All-America basketball player Amy Kreitz (Allentown, PA/Salisbury) and four-time All-America squash player Anjali Ponni Rajkumar (Tamil Nuda, India/Good Shepherd Secondary) have been named the 2002 Michael Karvasales '35 Women's Senior Athletes of the Year by the Franklin & Marshall Athletic Department.

A four-time All-America pick, Rajkumar was named a first team All-American by the Women's' Intercollegiate Squash Association (WISA) earlier this year. The #11 ranked player in the nation, the honor marks the fourth year that Rajkumar earned All-America status as she joins Carol Gould (1986-89), Lee Belknap (1988-91) and Margo Green (1992-95) in the as the College's only four-time women's squash All-Americans.

She finished the 2002 season by going 2-2 to advance to the final field of 12 at the 2002 Women's Intercollegiate Squash Association (WISA) championships at Princeton University on March 1-3.

In the first round, she would suffer a defeat as Harvard's Lindsey Wilkens held off the F&M senior for a 9-1, 9-1, 9-4 victory. Due to the loss, Rajkumar dropped to the first flight of the consolations, where she defeated past Molly Anderson 9-4, 9-5, 9-2. In the next round, she swept past Devon Dazell of Yale 9-6, 9-4, 9-4 to make the Final 12 participants as the top 18 earn All-American honors.

Against Carlin Wang of Harvard in the Final 12, Rajkumar fell 9-2, 9-5, 9-3 to conclude the year with a 20-5 record.

The owner of a 15-6 record in 2000-01, Rajkumar advanced to the round of sixteen at the WISA Championships at Harvard University last year, but fell in back-to-back matches to Harvard's Mary Elias (15-6, 15-1, 15-0) and Dana Betts of Bowdoin (15-4, 15-1, 15-0), both first team All-Americans. She finished the 2001 season ranked 15th in the nation

In 2000, she was 11-5 from the #1 position, leading the Diplomats to a fourth place finish in the Howe Cup B Division. The Howe Cup is held annually to determine the women's squash national champion.

She fell prey to a knee injury late in the 2000 season and was unable to compete at the USWISRA single championships.

Rajkumar finished her collegiate career 58-25 to rank third in career victories at the College, one better than Lee Belknap '91 (57-34). She is the fourth women's squash player to earn the Karvasales Award, following Flere Powel '78, Shannon Martin '88 and Margo Green '95.

A 2002 Kodak/Women's Basketball Association Honorable Mention and D3Hoops.com All-American, Kreitz ranks fourth all-time in scoring at the College with 1,651 career points, 15 short of surpassing Cathy Belser '90 for third on the all-time list. Further, she is among the leaders in assists (225, sixth), steals (281, second), three point field goals (103, fourth), three-point percentage (35.0 percent, fourth) and rebounding (489, 12th).

She joins Anne Krumrine '89 and Carrie Bowen '93 as the only players in F&M history to record All-American women's basketball seasons. A 1989 and 1990 Kodak "Player of the Year" finalist and First Team All-American, Krumrine is the college's career scoring leader with 1,811 points. Bowen, a 1993 Honorable Mention All-American, ranks second with 1,686 career points.

During the regular season, Kreitz led the Diplomats and ranked second in the Centennial Conference with an 18.9 scoring average, third in the CC in steals (3.08), eighth in three-point percentage (30.4), 11th in free-throw percentage (65.9) and 15th in assist/turnover ratio (0.85).

The 2001 Centennial Conference Player of the Year, she is fourth on the all-time Centennial Conference scoring list as she surpassed Dickinson's Kim Selemba '01 (1,575) with 18 points in a 61-56 CC semi-finals loss to Swarthmore on February 20th in the Mayser Center.

The Centennial Conference all-time steals leader with 281, she ranks fourth on the CC three-point field goals list, two buckets behind teammate Lauren Howanski (Sr., Gap, PA/Pequea Valley).

Kreitz is the sixth women's basketball player to earn Senior Athlete of the Year honors since its founding in 1976. Lisa Rowan '79, Sue Bowen '80, Jen Slaybaugh '92, Carrie Bowen '93 and Dina White '94 previously earned the award as women's basketball has the second most recipients behind field hockey (9).

Founded in 1787, Franklin & Marshall College is a coeducational, liberal arts institution. F&M supports 26 intercollegiate athletic teams, all on the NCAA Division III level except wrestling (NCAA Division I) and men’s and women’s squash (independent). F&M also supports numerous club and intramural activities for both men and women.