HARTFORD, Conn. -- Soccer star Joe Morrone Jr., the most decorated athlete in University of Connecticut history, Saturday was named state athlete of the year by the Connecticut Sports Writers Alliance.
Morrone, named earlier this month as the nation's best collegiate soccer player, will receive the Bill Lee Memorial Award as the state's outstanding athlete at the alliance annual dinner in Hartford Jan. 18.
The award is named in honor of the late sports editor of the Hartford Courant.
Morrone was only one of two collegiate players named to the U.S. Olympic team and was the leading scorer as the American team qualified for the Olympics for only the third time in the long history of the games.
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound senior compiled a career UConn and New England record of 61 goals and 36 assists for 97 points. In the season just completed, he scored 17 goals and 10 assists from the midfield position to lead the Huskies to a 21-2-1 record.
Morrone's career at UConn was guided by his father and head soccer coach, Joe Morrone Sr.
