By RUGBYMag.com Staff

RUGBYMag.com ends 2009 with a nod to the women's awards. After much thought and debate, here are our picks:

Player of the Year/7s Player of the Year: Christy Ringgenberg. We have separate awards, but not this year, as Ringgenberg does enough to get both. She is among the best women 7s players in the world, and captained the USA to within two points of the World Cup final, scoring three tries and seven conversions in the process. Not thought of as a XVs Eagle, she broke into the USA team this year. She scored the winning try for USA A v. Canada A (the fact that it was wrongfully disallowed matters little) and simply energized the team whenever she stepped on the field. In the Nations Cup she led the Eagles with 19 points from two tries, three conversions and a penalty. Humble and very smart, she's our pick.

Honorable mention: Blair Groefsema, who is a superb athlete and really getting it.

College Player of the Year: There's a tendency to go the easy route and pick a player from the championship team. However it's worth noting that Rebecca Bunnell of BYU, Mel Smitt of Stanford and Jillion Potter of New Mexico were all excellent. But Penn State was the team of the moment, and while several players had super season for PSU, Kate Daley had the biggest performances at the biggest times.

High School/U19 Player of the Year: Girls’ U19 Championship MVP Sarah Chmielewski, a four-year starter at fullback. "I can’t say enough about her," enthused coach John Klein. "She had two tries in the final. She’s just phenomenal."

Breakout Performance of the Year: Jess Watkins. Not always perfect, but always exciting. Worth noting she led the USA with five tries at the 7s World Cup, and scored six at the USA Women's International 7s.

Domestic 7s Player of the Year: Beth Black. NOVA was the best team of the new NIT 7s, was the team that most exemplified good 7s, and Black was their MVP.

Best performance in a championship game: Sadie Anderson, a freshman, going off the field to patch up a bleeding head, coming back on and leading Penn State to a title over Stanford.

Club of the Year: NOVA. Sure San Diego won the DI title, but showed great chemsitry and fortitude in their amazing comeback win over Seattle in the semis. They played excellent 7s - something more clubs need to concentrate on, and boasted the MVP of the NIT 7s and the NASC 7s. They’re the only club in the women’s game to have teams in both DI and DII and are pushing to move up to the Women's Premier League.

College Program of the Year: Brown. Yes Penn State was great, but Brown does a great deal with many obstacles in front of them.

HS/U19 Program of the Year: It sounds like a broken record, but DSHA is the only program to win six consecutive national titles.

Moment of the Year: Emilie Bydwell scored the go-ahead try in the closing minute of the Nations Cup match against Canada. The score came after the Canadians had tied it up 10-10 with only a few minutes left in the game, and they missed their very easy conversion to keep it tied. The way the USA marched the ball down the field was inspiring, and gave us a glimpse at what the Eagles can do.

Referee of the Year: Dana Teagarden is brilliant and controls a game beautifully. Anyone who has seen how she handles men's IRB 7s games, women's championship matches, or, in one great example, the men's college semi between BYU and San Diego Sate knows.