INDIANAPOLIS (Blugolds.com) – The NCAA announced a record number of female student-athletes nominated for the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year award on Tuesday, with University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire track and field's Jessie Reineck (Sr. - Greenville,WI/Fox Valley Lutheran) earning a spot on the list.
NCAA release - list of nominees
Reineck, a 10-time All-American who graduated this spring with a degree in athletic training and a 3.92 grade point average, led the women's track and field team this spring as the Blugolds took second at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championships and 10th at the NCAA Outdoor Championship.
Just this season, the fifth-year senior earned six United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTCCCA) All-Region honors and won four WIAC titles. Reineck also earned her second Super Six award.
A record 543 female student-athletes were nominated for the award this year. The school nominees represent all three NCAA divisions, with 229 from Division I, 117 from Division II and 197 from Division III. The nominees competed in 21 different women's sports, and 122 were multisport athletes during their time in college.
Established in 1991 and now in its 27th year, the NCAA Woman of the Year award honors graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their collegiate careers.
Next, conferences will select up to two conference nominees each from the pool of school nominees. The Woman of the Year selection committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will then choose the top 30 honorees — 10 from each division.
From the top 30, the selection committee determines the top three honorees from each division and announces the nine finalists in September. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics then chooses the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year from those nine.
The top 30 honorees will be recognized and the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced at the annual award ceremony Oct. 22 in Indianapolis.
