The NCAA has whittled down their list of nominees for the 2013 Woman of the Year award from over 450 to just 30.
See all of the swimmers who were nominated originally here.
The top 30 is made up of ten honorees from each of Division I, Division II, and Division III, and the next step of the process will be to whittle down to three from each Division for 9 total finalists.
The award is given on a combination of athletic success, classroom success, plus community service and leadership outside of the classroom. Some impressive stats from the NCAA:
- Cumulatively, the top 30 earned a 3.79 grade-point average and nearly 50 Academic All-America honors.
- The top 30 earned 12 national championships (individual and team) and more than 80 All-America honors.
- The top 30 volunteered for 365 organizations during their college careers.
The three swimmers in the top three are Caitlin Brauer from the College of Saint Rose in Division II, Cortney Jordan from Cal Lutheran in Division III, and Kayla Shull from Clairon in Division II.
Jordan’s nomination is particularly notable, as she is the first “paralympic athlete” in the 23-year history of this program. Jordan, a two-time Paralympian already at just 22 years old, has 8 Paralympic medals already, including the S7 Paralympic gold medal from the 2008 Beijing Games.
“I didn’t expect to make it to the Top 30,” she said of the nomination, “To be in this category with 29 of the nation’s top female athletes from all divisions is a huge honor. I am thrilled that I am able to represent Cal Lutheran at this level.”
Jordan was Cal Lutheran’s Scholar Athlete of the Year, and finished 23rd at the SCIAC Championships in the 200 fly in 2013.
Brauer, a recent Masters Degree graduate of the College of Saint Rose (completing both undergraduate and graduate school in four years).
Brauer is a four-year NCAA Championship qualifier and the first in program history to qualify for the meet. She was also a Capital One All-American, and owns a stunning 7 individual school records, plus 4 relay school records.
Shull, from Clarion University, was also a Capital One First Team Academic All-American on the At-Large Team and graduated with a perfect 4.0 GPA studying Molecular Biology.
She was also a 15-time All-American, including placing 5th in the 10 back in 2013 (55.40) and the 2010 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year in 2010. She is the second Clarion athlete to be nominated for this award – diver Jamie Wolf made it to the top 30 in 2007.
Swimming has won four of the last six awards, including 2007 winner Whitney Myers from Arizona, 2009 winner Lacey Nymeyer from Arizona, 2010 winner Justine Schluntz from Arizona (yeah, that happened), and 2011 winner Laura Barito from the Stevens Institute of Technology.
Kristy Kowal from Georgia also won this award in the year 2000.
The top 9 will be announced on September 11th and invited to a ceremony in Indianapolis on October 20th, where a winner will be announced.
The full list of the top 30 is below:
| Name | Div | Conference | Institution | Sport(s) |
| Anderson, Amy | I | The Summit League | North Dakota State University | Golf |
| Barrett, Brigetta | I | Pac-12 Conference | University of Arizona | Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field |
| Boudreau, Lauren | II | Sunshine State Conference | Nova Southeastern University | Rowing |
| Brauer, Caitlin | II | Northeast-10 Conference | The College of Saint Rose | Swimming and Diving |
| Collado, Olivia | II | Heartland Conference | St. Edward’s University | Soccer |
| Crosley, Elena | III | New England Small College Athletic Conference | Bowdoin College | Field Hockey |
| DeLozier, Torey | III | Northern Athletics Conference | Maranatha Baptist Bible College | Basketball, Softball, Volleyball |
| Dru, Becky | I | Independent | Stanford University | Field Hockey |
| Duffy, Elizabeth | II | Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference | Concordia University, St. Paul | Volleyball |
| Favre, Michelle | III | New Jersey Athletic Conference | Ramapo College | Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field |
| Green, Stephanie | III | USA South Athletic Conference | Christopher Newport University | Lacrosse |
| Hatlen, Kaaren | III | Northwest Conference | Pacific Lutheran University | Softball |
| Hwang, I-Hsuan (Annie) | II | Pacific West Conference | Brigham Young University, Hawaii | Tennis |
| Jordan, Cortney | III | Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conf. | California Lutheran University | Swimming and Diving |
| Kalin, Jacqueline | I | Missouri Valley Conference | University of Northern Iowa | Basketball |
| Krauser, Grace | II | South Atlantic Conference | Wingate University | Volleyball |
| Mackie, Nachelle | I | West Coast Conference | Brigham Young University | Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field |
| Majam, Kelly | I | Big West Conference | University of Hawaii, Manoa | Softball |
| Malavassi, Monica | II | Gulf South Conference | University of West Florida | Soccer |
| Maseko, Alexandra | I | Big East Conference | Seton Hall University | Basketball |
| Milks, Shelly | III | Old Dominion Athletic Conf. | Lynchburg College | Field Hockey |
| Okafor, Ifeatu | I | Big 12 Conference | Texas Tech University | Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field |
| Priess, Ashley | I | Southeastern Conference | University of Alabama | Gymnastics |
| Shull, Kayla | II | Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference | Clarion University of Pennsylvania | Swimming and Diving |
| Sizek, Julia | III | University Athletic Association | University of Chicago | Cross Country, Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field |
| Soares, Bridgett | II | East Coast Conference | Long Island University/LIU Post | Lacrosse |
| Stankaitis, Emily | III | Landmark Conference | Susquehanna University | Lacrosse |
| Swaner, Lya | III | American Southwest Conference | East Texas Baptist University | Softball |
| Whitaker, Nekesha | II | Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference | Clark Atlanta University | Cross Country, Outdoor Track and Field |
| Winslow, Amanda | I | Atlantic Coast Conference | Florida State University | Cross Country, Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field |