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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted at 12:24 p.m., Wednesday, November 21, 2001

UH receiver Lelie picked for All-American team

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

University of Hawai'i wide receiver Ashley Lelie has been selected to the Football News All-America third team.

Football News, based in Miami, Fla., has been covering college and professional football since 1939.

Lelie, a junior from Radford High, has 67 catches for 1,166 yards and 14 touchdowns. He leads the Western Athletic Conference and is fifth nationally in receiving, averaging 116.6 yards per game.

Associate editor Alain Poupart said his staff, which selects the national winners, noticed that Lelie's name kept appearing among the statistical leaders.

But it was in the Warriors' nationally televised 38-34 victory over Fresno State, ranked No. 18 at the time, that won over the Football News staff.

"Everybody came away impressed," Poupart said. "It validated his numbers. You can see a guy get big numbers against mediocre opponents. In his case, he's a big-time player who happens to play at a rather remote school."

Poupart said he was impressed with UH's schedule, saying, "That's a very good team with a good record. He has certainly helped them."

Against Fresno State, Lelie caught the winning touchdown pass, when he soared for a pass from Nick Rolovich. Blanketed by two defenders, Lelie managed to land with one foot in the end zone.

In last week's 52-51 victor over Miami (Ohio), Lelie had six catches for 211 yards and three touchdowns, including a one-handed grab in the back of the end zone.