The nominees for Female Athlete of the Year range in age from sophomores to seniors, in sports from tennis to track to soccer, and in birthplace from Buffalo to Long Island to Turkey. These five have proved themselves time and time again to be the best of BU.

Zeynep Altinay, tennis ‘ The senior from Turkey finished her BU career this season as the school’s all-time leader in singles victories (86) and doubles victories (71). Playing at the top of a BU lineup that went 14-2 and 4-0 in league play, Altinay made every match one that BU could win. She finished 17-9 overall and 12-4 in dual matches.

Kristie Bowers, soccer ‘ If you take away the first four games of the year, Bowers had one of the best seasons in BU history. The Rochester native put up seven shutouts and held opponents to one goal in four games. In the America East playoffs, she did everything she could, holding New Hampshire scoreless for regulation and two overtimes before falling on penalty kicks. With her time at BU coming to an end, the Bearcats have a big hole to fill in the net next season.

Lya Kushnirovich, tennis ‘ Kushnirovich has been the Pippen to Altinay’s Jordan, the Rice to her Montana ‘ you take away either player and the team couldn’t have had the success it had in the past four years. The Brooklyn native will leave the school second in all-time singles wins (70) and doubles wins (85). At the No. 2 spot in the lineup, Kushnirovich posted a 4-0 record this season.

Katie Radzik, track and field ‘ Pipe Dream’s 2006 Female Rookie of the Year and the athletic department’s 2006 Female Athlete of the Year is already the most accomplished distance runner in school history. Radzik highlighted her cross country season by finishing ahead of 166 runners to win the ECAC championship with a 5k time of 18:02 ‘ 20 seconds better than the next competitor. The impressive year for the sophomore from Mt. Sinai, N.Y., continued in the indoor and outdoor track seasons. She most recently finished third in the 10,000 meter race at the Bucknell Invitational.

Kim Williams, track and field ‘ It seems Williams, a sprinter from Buffalo, was breaking school records every weekend, most recently anchoring the winning relay teams at the AE championships in the 4×100 and 4×400, which both set school records. She also qualified for the NCAA regionals and ECACs by winning the 200 meters with a time of 23.83. Her actions resulted in her being named Women’s Most Outstanding Track Athlete for the meet.