July 1, 2008

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Recent graduate Samantha Tract along with rising seniors Mandy Friend and Allison Furstenburg were named to the 2008 VaSID All-State First Team. This is the second VaSID honor for both Tract and Furstenburg and the third for Canandaigua, N.Y. native, Friend.

Tract, a 2008 team captain, capped off her four-year career at Richmond with 23 caused turnovers in her senior season, the second most on the team. Not only did Tract not miss a game in her four years as a Spider, but she also started in all 75 contests. The Wayne, Pa. native also received All-Conference First Team honors handed out by the Atlantic 10 in April of 2008.

Friend who is no stranger to post-season awards earns her third straight first team honor handed out by the VaSID. This past season Friend rewrote the Richmond record books setting new heights in single season assists (36), points (89), draw controls (74) and caused turnovers (43). Friend also received IWLCA All-South Regional honors and was named the 2008 A-10 Midfielder of the Year.

After joining the Spiders in 2007, Furstenburg earns her second VaSID honor. Last season she was named to the second team after starting in all 20 games and helping Richmond to its third A-10 Championship with 49 goals on the season. She finished 2008 leading the Spiders with 54 goals earning the A-10 Offensive Player of the Year and her first ever VaSID First Team honor. With 82 overall points on the season, Furstenburg is now second on the all-time single season list right behind Friend.