Ochoa joins Woods in the winner's circle

NEW YORK (AP) Mexican golfer Lorena Ochoa is The Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year.<br/> <br/>Tiger Woods was named Male Athlete of the Year Monday, making this the first time since 1993 that

Tuesday, December 26th 2006, 4:20 pm

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) Mexican golfer Lorena Ochoa is The Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year.

Tiger Woods was named Male Athlete of the Year Monday, making this the first time since 1993 that participants in the same sport have swept the year-end awards. Basketball stars Michael Jordan and Sheryl Swoopes were the last to pull off a double.

Ochoa was an easy winner over Wimbledon and Australian Open champion Amelie Mauresmo. She received 220 points in the voting by sports editors from around the country to double the point total of the French tennis star.

The 24-year-old Ochoa won six titles in 2006 and ended Annika Sorenstam's five-year reign as the best player on the LPGA Tour. The Swede won this award each of the past three years.