OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – The Amateur Softball Association (ASA) announced today that the University of Washington finished the 2009 season as the No. 1 team in the nation according to the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll. The Huskies (51-12) received all 20 first-place votes after claiming the school’s first NCAA National Championship in softball.

Click here to view the poll.

In leading her team to the Women’s College World Series (WCWS) title, 2009 USA SoftballCollegiatePlayer of the Year Danielle Lawrie (Langley, British Columbia) achieved history of her own by becoming the first Player of the Year to win a national championship in the same season. Washington’s junior ace pitched every game of the series, improving her record to 42-8.

The University of Florida (63-5) finished the season in second-place with all second place votes after 10 consecutive weeks in the top spot. In the finals of the WCWS, the Gators were upset by Washington 8-0 and 3-2, despite strong pitching from Stacey Nelson (Los Alamitos, Calif.). The senior ace was Top Three finalist for the 2009 USA SoftballCollegiatePlayer of the Year honor.

Alabama (54-11) finished the season in No. 3, the same position it had at the end of the regular season. Joining the Top Five after strong performances in Oklahoma City, Okla., are No. 4 Georgia (47-12) and No. 5 Michigan (47-12). The Bulldogs and Wolverines improved from an eighth and sixth ranking respectively.

No. 6 Arizona State (47-19) and No. 8 Missouri (50-12) reentered the Top 10 after losing only one game each in Regional and Super Regional action. The Sun Devils defeated Missouri in the WCWS but then lost to Washington and were eliminated by Alabama. Missouri also fell to Georgia in Oklahoma City.

Rounding out the Top 10 are No. 7 Arizona (46-17); No. 9 Stanford (48-11); and No. 10 UCLA (45-11). Ranked No. 2 in the nation heading into the post season, the Bruins dropped out of contention for the National Championship by losing the Super Regional to Missouri. Stanford was knocked out of the No. 5 position after falling to Arizona at Supers.

Dropping out of the Top 10 were No. 11 Ohio State (47-11) and No. 17 Oklahoma (41-16). The Buckeyes made it to Supers, where they lost 6-4 and 7-6 to Georgia. But Oklahoma did not advance from the Regional Tournament. The Sooners ended their season with losses to North Dakota State and Tulsa.

Entering the Top 25 are No. 15 Baylor (40-22); No. 18 North Dakota State (38-20); and No. 21 Jacksonville State (43-16). All three teams recorded upsets in Regionals before losing out in Super Regional play. Michigan eliminated Baylor; Arizona State eliminated North Dakota State; and Alabama eliminated Jacksonville State.

About ASA

The Amateur Softball Association, founded in 1933, is the National Governing Body of softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. The ASA has become one of the nation’s largest sports organizations and now sanctions competition in every state through a network of 83 local associations. The ASA has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 210,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than three million. For more information on the ASA, visit http://www.asasoftball.com/.

About USA Softball

USA Softball is the brand created, operated and owned by the ASA that links the USA Men’s, Women’s, Junior Boys’ and Junior Girls’ National Team programs together. USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting these four National Teams to compete in international and domestic competitions. The USA Softball Women’s National Team is one of the only two women’s sports involved in the Olympic movement to capture three consecutive gold medals at the Olympic Games since 1996. The U.S. women have also won eight World Championship titles including the last six consecutive as well as claimed two World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about USA Softball, please visit http://www.usasoftball.com/.