July 2, 2008

CHESAPEAKE BEACH, Md. - Former George Mason women's lacrosse head coach Amy Bokker, who guided the program to its best record in school history in 2008, was named the South Region Coach of the Year by the IWLCA today. The organization announced a Coach of the Year from each of the four regions in Division I women's lacrosse, in addition to a National Coach of the Year.

Bokker led the Patriots to a banner season in 2008, as the team set a school record with 12 wins and tied the school record for conference wins with five. After running off a school-record streak of seven consecutive wins, George Mason reached the highest ranking in school history when they ascended to No. 9 in both polls during the first week of April. Mason clinched the second seed in the CAA Championship Tournament and returned to postseason play for the first time in two seasons, taking on Towson in the semifinal round.

Following the season, Bokker, the Patriots' all-time winningest head coach, announced her resignation to take over the head coaching duties of the women's lacrosse program at Stanford. Bokker became George Mason's second head coach when she took over the program in 1998 and led Mason to its first winning record. In 1999, she led the Patriots to a top-15 finish in the national polls. In the following nine years, she led the Patriots to five season-ending top-20 finishes. During her tenure at George Mason, Bokker coached nine All-Americans, two Academic All-Americans, a CAA Player of the Year, two CAA Defensive Players of the Year and a CAA Rookie of the Year.

Joining Bokker as Regional Coach of the Year selections were Penn's Karin Brower from the Mid-Atlantic Region, Syracuse's Gary Gait from the Northeast Region and Northwestern's Kelly Amonte Hiller from the Midwest/West Region. Hiller earned National Coach of the Year honors after leading the Wildcats to their fourth consecutive NCAA Championship.