Courtesy: Pac-12 Conference
SAN FRANCISCO – Stanford swimming & diving’s Brooke Forde has been selected Pac-12 Woman of the Year for the 2021-22 athletics season, the Conference office announced Tuesday.
The Pac-12 Woman of the Year Award honors graduating student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, community service and leadership. Forde is Stanford’s fourth winner of the award, which began in 2006, joining Valarie Allman (track & field; 2018), Chiney Ogwumike (basketball; 2014), and Arianna Lambie (track & field/cross country; 2008).
Forde, as well as Arizona State swimming and diving’s Emma Nordin, will progress as the Conference’s candidates for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year. The two were selected from 12 NCAA Woman of the Year nominees put forward by Pac-12 member institutions earlier this month. Each year, NCAA member schools are encouraged to celebrate their top graduating female student-athletes by nominating them for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award. Up to two female student-athletes can be recognized from each school and conference if at least one of them is an international student-athlete or woman of color.
2022 NCAA Woman of the Year nominees by Pac-12 school
- Arizona: Delaney Schnell, Swimming & Diving; Sam Thomas, Basketball
- Arizona State: Emma Nordin, Swimming & Diving; Jorinde van Klinken, Track & Field
- California: Camryn Rogers, Track & Field
- Colorado: Sadie Grozier, Lacrosse
- Oregon State: Sierra Bishop, Rowing
- Stanford: Brooke Forde, Swimming & Diving
- UCLA: Natalie Chou, Basketball; Mac May, Volleyball/Beach Volleyball
- Washington: Gabbie Plain, Softball; Vanessa Wong, Tennis
BROOKE FORDE
A standout in-and-out of the pool for Stanford women’s swimming and diving, Forde (Louisville, Ky.) recently completed a master’s degree in epidemiology with a 4.2 grade-point average after receiving an undergraduate degree in human biology with a 3.96 GPA in 2021.
During her five seasons competing on The Farm, Forde helped the Cardinal to a pair of NCAA Championships (2018, 2019) and four Pac-12 Championships (2018-20, 2022). She Pac- – part of being a 19-time NCAA All-American – as well as six Pac-12 individual or relay titles; prior to her fifth and final season, Forde captured a silver medal in the 800 free relay at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Among her academic honors is being named 2021 CoSIDA At-Large Academic All-American of the Year and a three-time CoSIDA First Team Academic All-American (2020, 2021, 2022). Additionally, she was the 2020-21 Pac-12 Women’s Swimming and Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year, a four-time CSCAA Scholar All-American (2018-21), three-time Pac-12 Winter Academic Honor Roll recipient (2020, 2021, 2022) and a 2019 Pac-12 All-Academic First Team All-Academic selection.
Her leadership and service activities include serving as co-president of the Stanford Student-Athlete Sustainability Committee and member of the Pac-12 Sustainability Committee during which she spearheaded a Zero Waste initiative at a Stanford football game with recycling, e-waste, and donation drives that were duplicated during basketball season. Forde, who received Stanford University’s James W. Lyons Award for Service, which highlights outstanding contributions in areas of extraordinary need that result in substantial change, will join the Peace Corps this fall to be a public health officer in rural Peru.
EMMA NORDIN
Nordin (Carmel, Ind.) was recently named ASU’s female recipient of the Pac-12 Tom Hansen Medal following her illustrious career with the Sun Devils’ women’s swimming and diving program. Nordin departed the program with school records in four freestyle events – 200-, 500-, 1,000- and 1,650-meter. She was Pac-12 titlist in the 500 free in 2020 and represented ASU in both the 2019 and 2022 NCAA Championships.
A 2021 Pac-12 Postgraduate Scholarship recipient, Nordin is currently pursuing a graduate degree in biology after graduating Summa Cum Laude with a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences (neurobiology, physiology and behavior) in May 2021. Over the course of her athletics career Nordin was a nine-time Dean’s List member, a two-time CSCAA Scholar All-American (2019, 2020), named to the 2020 Pac-12 Winter Academic Honor Roll in 2020 and Pac-12 Women’s Swimming First Team All-Academic in 2019, as received ASU’s 2022 Bill Kajikawa Award for graduating student-athletes with demonstrated academic excellence, athletic accomplishment, leadership and service in the community.
Eligible female student-athletes are nominated by their schools, then each conference office reviews the nominations from its members and submits a conference nominee to the NCAA. The Woman of the Year Selection Committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will then select 10 student-athletes from each division, determining the Top 30 honorees to be announced in September. Of the Top 30, the Woman of the Year Selection Committee will announce nine finalists, three from each NCAA division. The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics will review the finalists and name the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year.
At January’s NCAA Convention in San Antonio, the national Top 30 honorees will be celebrated, and the NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced.
Four student-athletes from the Pac-12 have won the prestigious NCAA Woman of the Year award: Justine Schluntz (2010), Lacey Nymeyer (2009), Whitney Myers (2007), and Tanya Jones (1994). All four were student-athletes at the University of Arizona.
