Big 12 Soccer Coaches pick Nebraska as Preseason Favorite

Lincoln -- Nebraska was picked to repeat as Big 12 Conference soccer champions in 2000 in a preseason poll voted on by the league head coaches and released by the conference office Wednesday.

The Huskers received 10 first place votes (coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team), and 1999 runner-up Texas A&M received one first place vote. Nebraska won the 1999 Big 12 title with a perfect conference record of 10-0 and finished 22-1-2 overall - the third-best winning percentage in the country. The Huskers advanced to the NCAA final eight last year and are ranked fifth in this year's preseason NSCAA/adidas Top-25 Poll. In addition to last year's Big 12 title, the Huskers won the inaugural championship in 1996, as well as Big 12 Tournament titles in 1996, 1998 and 1999.

Six Huskers were also named to the All-Big 12 Preseason Team, including: senior goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc, senior defender Christine Gluck, senior midfielder Jenny Benson, junior midfielder Meghan Anderson, sophomore forward Christine Latham and junior forward Kelly Rheem.

Texas A&M is ranked second in the preseason poll. The Aggies compiled a 7-3 Big 12 mark last season while finishing second in the league race. A&M enters the 2000 season ranked 11th in the NSCAA/adidas poll. The Aggies won the 1997 Big 12 regular-season and tournament titles.

Missouri is the preseason favorite to finish third - the same spot the team ended the 1999 season in. The Tigers advanced to the championship game of the Big 12 Tournament last season before falling 2-1 to Nebraska. Texas is picked to finish fourth with Baylor rounding out the top five. Both Missouri and Baylor received votes in the preseason top-25 poll.

The All-Big 12 Preseason Team is dominated by upperclassmen with seven seniors and four juniors. Eleven of the 15 selections (ties occurred in the voting) were named to the 1999 All-Big 12 Conference Teams, including 1999 first teamers: Tamura Crawley (Baylor), Benson (Nebraska), Anderson (Nebraska), Nikki Thole (Missouri), and Nicky Thrasher (Texas A&M).

Big 12 teams open the 2000 season on Friday, Aug 25, with a full slate of non-conference matches. The Huskers will begin their season at Minnesota at 7 p.m. on Aug. 25.

2000 Big 12 Preseason Coaches' Soccer Poll
1. Nebraska (10) 100
2. Texas A&M (1) 90
3. Missouri 77
4. Texas 76
5. Baylor 63
6. Kansas 54
7. Colorado 44
8. Iowa State 35
9. Texas Tech 30
10. Oklahoma 24
11. Oklahoma State 12
First place votes in parenthesis

2000 Preseason All-Big 12 Soccer Team
GK-Dawn Greathouse, Baylor, Sr, Allen, Texas
GK-Karina LeBlanc, Nebraska, Sr, Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada
D-Tamura Crawley, Baylor, So, Dallas, Texas
D-Christine Gluck, Nebraska, Sr, Chino, Calif.
D-Amber Reynolds, Texas A&M, Sr, Independence, Mo.
D-Dyana Russell, Missouri, Jr, Magnolia, Texas
D-Christen Secrest, Oklahoma, Jr, Norman, Okla.
MF-Katie Antongiovanni, Iowa State, So, Bakersfield, Calif.
MF-Jenny Benson, Nebraska, Sr, Huntington Beach, Calif.
MF-Meghan Anderson, Nebraska, Jr, Omaha, Neb.
F-Nikki Thole, Missouri, Sr, St. Louis, Mo.
F-Nicky Thrasher, Texas A&M, Sr, El Paso, Texas
F-Christine Latham, Nebraska, So, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
F-Kelly Rheem, Nebraska, Jr, Littleton, Colo.

**Ties occurred in the voting