INDIANAPOLIS---The NCAA has selected nine finalists for the 2006 NCAA Woman of the Year. The winner will be announced at the annual awards dinner Saturday, October 28, in Indianapolis.

This prestigious award – in its 16th year – honors outstanding female student-athletes who have excelled in academics, athletics and community leadership, and have completed their collegiate athletics eligibility.

This year’s finalists are:

• Anne Bersagel, Wake Forest University (cross country and indoor and outdoor track), Atlantic Coast Conference;
• Janelle Engle, Old Dominion University (field hockey), Colonial Athletic Association;
• Angela Homan, Auburn University (cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field), Southeastern Conference;
• Jennifer Irwin, Ferris State University (cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field), Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference;
• Adrianne Musu Jackson-Buckner, State University College at Oneonta (field hockey and indoor and outdoor track), State University of New York Athletic Conference;
• Angela Pfeiffer, Concordia College, Moorhead (indoor and outdoor track), Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference;
• Bethany Rehm, Texas Woman’s University (gymnastics), Independent;
• Christyn Schumann, Trinity University (Texas) (indoor and outdoor track), Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference; and
• Greta Trotman, Barry University (tennis), Sunshine State Conference.

The Committee on Women’s Athletics will select the 2006 Woman of the Year from among the finalists. CSTV personality Danyelle Sargent and Kara Lawson, former University of Tennessee, Knoxville, women’s basketball standout and a 2003 Woman of the Year top-10 finalist currently playing in the WNBA, will serve as co-hosts for the evening.

As part of the Woman of the Year weekend, finalists will assemble mini-barns for Habitat for Humanity homes on Saturday, October 28, as their community service project. The build will occur at the 1700 block of Roosevelt Avenue from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.

Last year’s national winner was Lauryn McCalley, a former diving standout from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She was the second swimming and diving student-athlete from Tennessee to be honored since the award’s inception since 1991.

Other past winners include: 2004 – Kelly Albin, lacrosse, University of California, Davis; 2003 – Ashley Rowatt, swimming and diving , Kenyon College; 2002 -- Tanisha Silas, track and field, University of California, Davis; 2001 -- Kimberly A. Black, swimming, University of Georgia; 2000 -- Kristy Kowal, swimming, 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 and diving, University of Georgia; 1996 – Billie Winsett-Fletcher, volleyball, University of Nebraska; 1995 – Rebecca Lobo, basketball, University of Connecticut; 1994 – Tanya Jones, track and field, University of Arizona; 1993 – Nnenna Jean Lynch, cross country and track and field, Villanova University; 1992 – Catherine Byrne, swimming and diving, University of Tennessee; and 1991 – Mary Beth Riley, track and field, Canisius College.