Dec. 1, 1999

Columbia, Mo. - University of Missouri women's soccer forwards Nikki Thole and Erin Grimsley have been named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-Central Region teams, the association announced today. Thole, a junior from St. Louis, Missouri, earned first team honors, while Grimsley, a senior from Lenexa, Kansas, was tabbed for the second team.

Both players turned in career-best seasons in 1999 while leading Missouri to a program-best 14-8-1 record, as well as the school's first appearance in the NCAA Soccer Tournament.

Thole bested her own school-record (20), netting 23 goals during the season, while assisting on nine others. Her 55 total points set a new Missouri single-season standard, as did her six match-winning goals. Thole was a 1999 All-Big 12 First Team pick during the regular season and was Missouri's lone representative on the 1999 All-Big 12 Tournament team. For the second consecutive season Missouri advanced to the Big 12 Tournament championship match this season, falling to Nebraska, 2-1 in the final.

In her second season at MU, Grimsley--who transferred to MU for her junior season from Florida State--scored a career-high 16 goals with a team-high 10 assists (tied with Amy Timmermann) for 42 total points. Four of her goals were match-winners. Grimsley was an All-Big 12 Second Team selection for her regular season play. The All-Central Region honor was the first career post-season award for the senior forward.

53 schools are part of the NSCAA's Central Region which stretches from Wyoming south to Colorado and New Mexico, east to Alabama and north through Tennesee, Missouri and Nebraska. For a lisiting of each of the NSCAA's all-region teams, visit www.nscaa.com on the World Wide Web.