Dec. 28, 2010 SEATTLE - The 2010 calendar year wasn't good for just our current student-athletes, but many former UW greats had great professional careers in their respected leagues. Jill Collymore was a UW volleyball athlete from 2004-08. Since then, she made her debut with the U.S. Women's National Team in 2010, averaging 3.89 points in nine sets played on the Tour of China. She scored 16 points in three set off of the bench versus Evergrande and had nine kills vs. Hong Kong. She also played this past summer vs. Germany and Montreux Volley Masters. Tina (Frimpong) Ellertson played for the Huskies' women's soccer team from 2001-2004 and led the Huskies to their first Elite Eight appearance in her senior season. She has played on the U.S. Women's National Team since 2004. She has also played for the Seattle Sounders women's team, the Saint Louis Athletica, and signed with the Atlanta Beat in 2010. At the beginning of 2010, playing with the Athletica, she started six of six games she played, assisted one goal, and made two shots, logging 517 minutes. After signing with the Beat in mid-2010, she started all 16 games she played, made two goals, seven shots, and three shots on goal, logging 1298 minutes. In 2010, she was also honored with an induction into the Husky Hall of Fame for her accomplishments as a student-athlete while at Washington. George John played for the UW men's soccer team from 2005-08 where he was a three-time All-Far West Region selection. He just wrapped up his second year with FC Dallas after being drafted by them in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft. He led FC Dallas to the 2010 MLS cup. In 2010, he played 2,138 minutes and scored one goal. Danielle Lawrie is one of the greatest softball players in NCAA History. She just wrapped up her collegiate career with UW in 2010 and was the two-time National Player of the Year. She is at the top of nearly every pitching category in school, conference and NCAA History. A Team Canada player, Lawrie most recently won the National Pro Fastpitch championships with the USSSA Pride. She pitched in the semifinal game against the Akron Racers, earning eight strikeouts. Tim Lincecum won a world championship with the San Francisco Giants in 2010. He was a superstar at UW from 2004-06. In 2010, Lincecum, just 26 years old, went 16-10 with a 3.43 ERA. He had 231 strikeouts and won all three games in pitched in the postseason, including the 2-0 victory over Texas in the World Series. He got to raise the 12th man flag at the Seahawks game vs. Atlanta in December. Veronica Perez played for the women's soccer team at UW from 2006-2009 and played her first WPS season with the Saint Louis Athletica, as the 37th pick overall in the WPS league draft. She joined former Huskies Hope Solo and Tina Ellertson on the Athletica. She finished her first WPS season with the second-best regular season record. She also joined the Mexican National Team in 2010 and, in November, she scored the game-winning goal against the US National Team in World Cup Qualifying to send her team to the World Cup. This was the team's first win against the US National Team. In 2010, Washington women's soccer head coach Lesle Gallimore named her the new Volunteer Assistant Coach at UW. Alex Prugh was a UW golfer from 2003-06. The 25 year old finished in the top five in two of his first PGA tour events after turning pro and earning his tour card for 2010, finishing fifth in the Bob Hope Classic and at the Farmers Insurance Open. On the year, he played in 28 PGA events, making 16 cuts, earning four top 10 finishes with a 70.51 scoring average. He finished 87th in the FedExCup standings. Brandon Roy was a Huskies' men's basketball player from 2003-2006 and now plays professionally in his fifth season with the Portland Trailblazers. He is one of only two players this decade, the other being LeBron James, to be named Rookie of the Year and appear in two All-Star Games in his first three NBA seasons. Roy had an incredible 2009-2010 season, averaging 21.5 points a game, his second highest average since he joined the team in 2006. He was selected to compete in the 2010 NBA All-Star Game, his third selection as an NBA All-Star. He was also named to the Third-Team All-NBA on May 6, 2010, his second consecutive season as an honoree for an All-NBA team. Roy has sustained some injuries this year but was able to make a remarkable eight-day recovery from surgery for a bone contusion to lead the Trailblazers to a win in Game 4 of their series against the Phoenix Suns in the 2010 NBA Playoffs. He was also honored for his collegiate and professional accomplishments at the Oregon-Washington basketball game on March 4th at McArthur Court in Eugene, Ore. Hope Solo was a three-time All-American goalkeeper for the Huskies' women's soccer team from 1999-2002 and was a member of the legendary 2000 Pac-10 Championship winning team. She has been a part of the US Women's National Team since 2000 and has played for several professional teams since leaving Washington. Solo now plays for the Atlanta Beat with Ellertson. At the beginning of the 2010 women's pro soccer (WPS) season, playing with the Saint Louis Athletica, she started all six games played and had 37 shots and 29 saves, logging 540 minutes. In the second part of the 2010 season, she played for the Atlanta Beat, starting all 16 games played with 102 shots and 75 saves, logging 1440 minutes (15th highest minutes in the WPS). She had 1.64 goals against average for the entire 2010 season (3rd in the WPS) and had 6 shutouts in the entire season (2nd in the WPS). She had a fantastic season before sustaining a shoulder injury and having surgery on it in September 2010, with five to six month expected recovery time but is expected to be ready for the World Cup in 2011. Aretha Thurmond was a standout field athlete at UW from 1995-98. A 2006 Husky Hall of Fame Inductee and a three-time Olympian had a great 2010 competing in the 2010 Diamond League track and field series, placing fourth in the discus throw in Doha, Quatar in May with a throw of 204-feet, 2-inches. She won the discus at a event at Auburn University in April, taking the U.S. lead at the time. |
