Idia Ihensekhien 2022 Sorensen Award Winner
Idia Ihensekhien 2022 Sorensen Award Winner
Dartmouth No. 8 Idia Ihensekhien is the recipient of the 2021-22 MA Sorensen Award as the top women's college rugby player in the country.
Ihensekhien overcame serious injury to lead the Big Green to a National Intercollegiate Rugby Association D1 championship, beating West Point 28-18.
Perfect: Dartmouth Wins NIRA, Goes 9-0, Over Brave West Point
In that final Ihensekhien scored two key tries to pace Dartmouth to the win.
A versatile athlete who was a prop before a back injury forced a position change, Ihensekhien has the pace to play in the backs, too.
"This season was my hardest," Ihensekhien told Goff Rugby Report in an earlier interview. "Coming off a back injury—I had difficulty sitting up for nearly 10 months and I wasn’t fully able to exercise like rugby necessitates— I wasn’t in the greatest shape. But my teammates and coaches were really supportive and found ways to help me maximize my abilities by catering to my style of play."
Despite her downplaying her preparation, Ihensekhien started the season strong and the MA Sorensen Award panel selected her from the five finalists as the country's best player.
Ihensekhien will officially receive the award at a gala awards dinner at the Washington Athletic Club in Seattle, Wash. The WAC is the sponsor of the Sorensen Award and has been presenting the award, along with the Rudy Scholz Award for the top men's player, since 2016. The award is named after MA Sorensen, a World Cup winner for the USA in 1991, a trailblazing collegiate player at William & Mary, and a highly successful and respected coach, rugby ambassador, and anesthesiologist.
Maryanne Sorensen's support of this award, including being at every awards dinner and her personal interest in the success of the awardees, has been a highlight of this process.
