FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 3, 2006

Katie Benevides Receives
Rhode Island College’s
Helen M. Murphy Award

Providence, RI—Rhode Island College senior Katie Benevides (North Dighton, MA) received Rhode Island College’s Helen M. Murphy award at the College’s annual Cap and Gown ceremony on Wednesday, May 3. The award is based not only on athletic prowess, but also values community and campus involvement and honors an outstanding Rhode Island College senior woman athlete.

Benevides is a four-year letterwinner in both women’s soccer and softball. During her soccer career as a back, she played in 75 games, starting 70 of them. She closed out her career with two goals and one assist for five career points.

As a senior in 2005, Benevides played in 18 games, starting 16 of them. She had one goal and one assist for three points. As a junior in 2004, she played in 19 games, starting 16 of them. As a sophomore in 2003, Benevides played in 20 games, starting all of them. As a freshman in 2002, she played in 18 games, starting all of them. She had one goal for two points.

She is currently the starting left fielder and a team captain on RIC’s softball team, which recently captured the Little East Conference Regular Season Championship for the second consecutive season. Benevides has played in 38 games, starting all of them. She is batting .381 (48-for-126) with 30 runs scored, five doubles, one triple, four stolen bases and 14 RBI. Benevides was named the Little East Conference’s Softball Player of the Week once on the season. She was a member of RIC’s Little East Conference Regular Season Championship and Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament Championship teams as a junior in 2005.

She is a resident assistant in RIC’s residence halls, a social work major with a minor in psychology and a 2002 graduate of Dighton-Rehoboth High School.

ABOUT THE HELEN M. MURPHY AWARD

The Murphy Award was established in 1979 and sponsored by the faculty of the Henry Barnard School to honor an outstanding Rhode Island College senior woman athlete. The award is named for Helen M. Murphy, a graduate of Rhode Island College in 1939, who was a member of the faculty for 38 years and taught at the Henry Barnard School, beginning in 1941, until her retirement in 1979.

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