SALEM, Ore. - Western Baptist women's soccer player KeriAnn Lawson (Oregon City, Ore. / Molalla HS) was one of five female finalists for the Ad Rutschman Award recognizing the top small college male and female athletes in Oregon for 2002.

Lawson and her guests spent an evening at the Oregon Sports Awards ceremonies at Nike's Tiger Woods Center in Beaverton on January 19. The OSA ceremonies are an upbeat revival of the Hayward Banquet which for more than a half-century honored the state's top amateur and professional athletes.

Lawson is a three-time NAIA All-American honorable mention. The 5-foot-3 junior forward is Western Baptist's career scoring leader with 213 points (81 goals, 51 assists). She smashed the program's single-season scoring record in 2002 with 101 points (38 goals, 25 assists) - the sixth highest mark in NAIA women's soccer history.

"KeriAnn is the type of player that a program like WBC is very fortunate to have," head coach Marty Ziesemer said. "She has been a team leader not just on the field but in her encouragement and love for the rest of the team. She is a great example of WBC with her attitude and her sincere desire to honor the Lord in her play. She doesn't just play to win, she plays to glorify the Lord. Hopefully she will have a chance to use her skills to play after college."

Lawson was the Cascade Collegiate Conference Player of the Year in 2001 and narrowly missed repeating as the award winner this past season. She has been named all-conference and all-region in each of her three seasons.

Western Baptist (19-8) set a program record for wins in 2002 and reached the NAIA Region I tournament championship match for the first time in history. Following a loss to fourth-ranked Concordia in the regional finals, the Warriors traveled to the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) championship tournament.

Western Baptist is one of 53 institutions also affiliated with the NCCAA Division I, and finished runner-up in the eight-team national tournament with a 2-1 overtime loss to Malone (Ohio) in the title game.

With four goals and three assists in three tourney matches, Lawson was named the NCCAA tournament's most outstanding player for the second time. She is a three-time NCCAA All-American.