via UF press release   The former Temple standout joins an impressive list of past winners, including Syracuse’s Jim Brown. GAINESVILLE, Fla. – University of Florida lacrosse coach Amanda O’Leary has been selected as a 2018 Tewaaraton Legend, as announced by the Tewaaraton Foundation Friday night. The Tewaaraton Legends Award annually honors those who played college lacrosse prior to 2001, the first year in which the Tewaaraton Award was presented. Recipients are chosen on the basis that their collegiate performance would have earned them a Tewaaraton Trophy, had the award existed when they played. O’Leary was a four-year starter for Temple’s lacrosse and field hockey teams, twice earning All-America honors in both sports. A two-time Midfielder of the year and NCAA All-Tournament Team selection (1987-88), O’Leary led Temple to a perfect 19-0 national championship in 1988, and was named Lacrosse Magazine’s Player of the Year in the process. “Mandee is, if not the best, one of the best athletes that has ever played the game,” said O’Leary’s former head coach at Temple, Tina Sloan Green. “Not only could she attack, score and defend, she was a smart, effective leader on and off the field. Well-deserved.” A 2005 inductee to the U.S. Lacrosse National Hall of Fame, O’Leary is also a member of the Temple Owls’ Hall of Fame (2004), and the NCAA Women’s Lacrosse 25th Anniversary Team (2006). She twice won gold medals for Team USA in the Lacrosse World Cup (1989, 1993). Now entering her 23rd season as a head coach, and ninth at Florida, O’Leary’s 293 career victories are the fifth most all time in DI women’s lacrosse. UF’s 121 wins since 2011 are the second-most of any DI program during that span. About The Tewaaraton Foundation First presented in 2001, the Tewaaraton Award is recognized as the preeminent lacrosse award, annually honoring the top male and female college lacrosse player in the United States. Endorsed by the Mohawk Nation Council of Elders and U.S. Lacrosse, the Tewaaraton Award symbolizes lacrosse’s centuries-old roots in Native American heritage. The Tewaaraton Foundation ensures the integrity and advances the mission of this award. Each year, the Tewaaraton Award celebrates one of the six tribal nations of the Iroquois Confederacy – the Mohawk, Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca and Tuscarora – and presents two scholarships to students of Native American descent. Follow the Gators #FLax Twitter Instagram Facebook