INDIANAPOLIS---The NCAA announced today the Woman of the Year award state finalists representing the states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. This prestigious award honors outstanding female student-athletes who have excelled in academics, athletics and community leadership, and have completed their collegiate athletics eligibility.

Colleges and universities nominated 276 student-athletes for this year’s award. A committee comprised of representatives from member schools selected the state winners.

Each NCAA member institution was encouraged to submit a nominee. In fact, schools were allowed to submit the names of two nominees if one was an ethnic minority. The selection committee then reviewed the nominees’ academic and athletics accomplishments and community service involvement.

Those chosen as state winners are truly exceptional young women. Of the 52 finalists, 13 competed on national championship teams. Nearly 45 were selected as athletic all-Americans and more than 40 were named academic all-Americans. More than 40 served as their team captains or co-captains. Eighteen were multi-sport athletes. Eleven received NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships. Twenty-five represented their fellow student-athletes on their campus Student-Athlete Advisory Committees (SAAC); four served on conference student-athlete committees.

In addition, they found time to help in their communities, volunteering for a wide variety of organizations, including hospitals, soup kitchens and the Special Olympics. They helped adults and children learn to read; volunteered at food, clothing and gift drives; helped raise awareness and funds to fight breast cancer; served on committees planning campus policies; and took mission trips overseas. The state winners had an overall grade point average (GPA) of 3.77, with seven posting perfect 4.0 GPAs. They graduated with a variety of majors, including education, exercise science, political science, chemistry, biology, math, philosophy, art history, psychology, Spanish, aerospace engineering, international business, business administration, business management, marketing, journalism, accounting, animal science/pre-veterinarian, food science, women’s studies and telecommunications.

The state-level winners include 30 student-athletes from Division I; 11 student-athletes from Division II; and 11 student-athletes from Division III. These student-athletes participated in 12 of the 20 sports in which women compete for NCAA championships – basketball, cross country, rowing, gymnastics, lacrosse, softball, skiing, soccer, swimming, indoor and outdoor track and volleyball.

A national winner – the NCAA Woman of the Year – will be selected by the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics from among 10 finalists. The top 10 finalists will be announced September 15.

The national winner will be announced at the 2004 NCAA Woman of the Year dinner Sunday, October 31, at The Indianapolis Westin. This is the fourteenth year that this award – one of the top honors the NCAA bestows – will be given.

Last year’s national winner was Ashley Rowatt, a swimming and diving standout from Kenyon College, a Division III school in Gambier, Ohio. She was the first student-athlete in Division III to win the award.

Other past winners include: 2002 – Tanisha Silas, track and field, University of California, Davis; 2001 – Kimberly A. Black, Olympic gold medal swimmer, University of Georgia; 2000 – Kristy Kowal, Olympic silver medal swimmer, University of Georgia; 1999 – Jamila Demby, track and field, University of California, Davis; 1998 – Peggy Boutilier, lacrosse and field hockey, University of Virginia; 1997 – the late Lisa Ann Coole, swimming, University of Georgia; 1996 – Billie Winsett Fletcher, volleyball, University of Nebraska, Lincoln; 1995 – Rebecca Lobo, basketball, University of Connecticut; 1994 – Tanya Hughes Jones, track and field, University of Arizona; 1993 – Nnenna Jean Lynch, cross country and track and field, Villanova University; 1992 – Catherine Byrne Maloney, swimming, University of Tennessee, Knoxville; and 1991 – Mary Beth Riley-Metcalf, cross country, Canisius College.

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