MINNEAPOLIS--Coaches, teammates and opposing players have long asserted the Harvard junior co-captain Jennifer Botterill is the best player in women's college hockey. Now she has the trophy to prove it.

Botterill was named the recipient of the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award at an honorary dinner at the Radisson Hotel Metrodome on Mar. 24. The award, given to the season's most outstanding player in women's college hockey, is named after Kazmaier, a former All-Ivy Princeton defenseman who passed away on Feb. 15, 1990 at the age of 28 following a struggle with a rare blood disease.

Botterill, a Winnipeg native, became the first underclassman and the first Canadian ever to win the Kazmaier award. The previous three winners--New Hampshire forward Brandy Fisher, Harvard forward A.J. Mleczko '99 and Brown goaltender Ali Brewer--have all played for the U.S. National Team.

It was a bittersweet evening for Botterill, whose Crimson team fell 6-3 to Minn.-Duluth in the national semifinals the night before the awards dinner. Botterill became the first Kazmaier winner whose team failed to reach the national championship game in the same season.

"The Kazmaier is a huge honor," said Botterill following the awards dinner. "But I'd trade it away any day for a team championship. That was our goal coming into Minnesota."

Upon receiving the award, Botterill praised her fellow finalists--senior linemate Tammy Shewchuk and Minnesota defenseman Courtney Kennedy--her family, her coaches, and her teammates.

"Every year at Harvard it has gotten better," Botterill said. "I could not ask for a better group of friends. Thanks so much for making every day of my life a treat."

Botterill comes from a family with deep hockey roots. Her mother is a former Olympic speedskater and her father is a noted sports psychologist. Her brother Jason won the 1996 national title with Michigan and is currently playing for the Saint John Flames of the AHL.