Olympians Smith, Van Landeghem Among Nominees for NCAA Woman of the Year

The list of a record-setting 543 nominees for the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year Award has been released, and the list is as impressive as ever. Not only is the number of names submitted the most in program history, but the group averaged a 3.69 GPA, and includes 122 multisport athletes.

54 women from the sports of swimming & diving and water polo were nominated for this year’s award, including some well-known Division I swimmers like Anika Apostalon (USC), Sarah Gibson (Texas A&M), Leah Smith (UVA), and Chantel Van Landeghem (Georgia).

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 this round, each school was eligible to nominate one female student-athlete who is graduating and has completed their eligibility. Next, each conference will select up to 2 conference nominees from each of the schools’ nominees (in sports where teams compete in a conference outside of their normal conference, there is a special pool created). Then, that list is reduced to 30 athletes – 10 from each of the NCAA’s 3 divisions. The next cut reduces the competition to 10 women from each of the NCAA’s three divisions.

Next, 9 finalists (3 from each division) will be named finalists before an awards ceremony in Indianapolis on Sunday, October 22nd that will select the NCAA Woman of the Year winner.  Then, the NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee chooses the ultimate winner on the basis of academic achievements, athletics excellence, community service, and leadership.

http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/news/school-nominees-named-2017-ncaa-woman-year

Full list of nominated swimmers, divers, and water polo players: