The field for the 2018 NCAA Woman of the Year award has been whittled down to just 30: 10 from each of the NCAA’s 3 divisions. 1 swimmer and 1 diver have been included on that list.
Swimming & diving Top 30 Honorees, 2018 NCAA Woman of the Year:
- Leung Jing, Harvard (diving)
- Julia Wilson, Kenyon (swimming)
From a record 581 initial nominees, the field was first narrowed to 154, including 14 swimmers (and 1 water polo player), and now to 30; the next step will be to choose 9 finalists (3 from each Division) in early October. The top 30 will be honored at an awards banquet in October 28th in Indianapolis, which includes a weekend of service for those nominees in attendance, where the winner will be announced.
The award honors women who have excelled in academics, athletics, service, and leadership in college. To be eligible for the award, an athlete must have earned a varsity letter in an NCAA-sponsored sport and completed eligibility in that sport in the 2017-2018 season.
Multiple aquatic atheltes have won this award, including most recently diver Kristin Day in 2015, and MIT swimmer Margaret Guo in 2016. Arizona swimmers Lacey Nymeyer and Justine Schluntz won back-to-back awards in 2009 and 2010, with thei rteammate Whitney Myers winning 2 years earlier in 2007 in an incredible run for the program.
Brief Bios on the Swimming Nominees:
- Harvard diver Jing Leung was an Academic All-Ivy Honoree, a 3-time platform Zone Diving champion, and a team captain of the Ivy League champion Harvard women’s team last season. She also excelled out of the pool, where she was a four-time CSCAA Scholar All-America selection, while volunteering her time to numerous community service projects. Additionally, during her time at Harvard she was an active member of the Harvard Alumni Association as the Student Reunions Coordinator as well as a Quincy House Green Representative.
- Kenyon breaststroker Julia Wilson is the Kenyon and NCAC record holder in both the 100 and 200 breaststrokes and 16-time NCAA Division III All-American. A 2016 Olympic Trials Qualifier, she was named the 2018 Academic All-American of the Year. She volunteered with both the Salvation Army and East Knox Elementary School while in college and assisted in fundraising efforts for the Alzheimer Association and Relay For Life, and worked with Kenyon’s annual Girls and Women’s in Sports Day.
Congratulation to the swimmers. to the nominating body, this is either late or early to be announcing in sept–be on top of things like your nominees would be
I think there are a couple reasons for this. First, they have to wait till spring sports are concluded in June to have a full picture of the athletes’ accomplishments. Then, each university nominates athlete(s), and each conference selects their winners from that pool before nominating them on to the national level. So the timeline actually seems sensible given these constraints.