Former Blugold One Of 30 Finalists For NCAA Woman of the Year
Official NCAA Release
INDIANAPOLIS--Former University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire student-athlete Maria Peloquin has been selected as one of the top 30 honorees for the 2011 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Woman of the Year award.
The top 30 honorees were nominated by conference and independent members and represent multiple sports. Three finalists will be chosen from each division to form the nine finalists for the Woman of the Year award.
Now in its 21st year, the Woman of the Year Award honors female student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in academic achievement, athletics excellence, community service and leadership.
This marks the second straight year that an individual from the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) has been one of the 30 finalists for the award. UW-La Crosse’s Chelsea Hoff was a qualifier a season ago.
A native of Prescott, Wis., Peloquin was a two-year letterwinner for the cross country team and four-year letterwinner on the track and field squads. She majored in kinesiology and accumulated a 3.84 grade point average. Peloquin was a three-time selection to the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic Track and Field Team and a four-year honoree on the WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll. She was named to UW-Eau Claire’s Dean’s List seven semesters and earned Academic Distinction eight times.
As a member of the cross country squad, she served as team captain her senior season and was a member of UW-Eau Claire’s NCAA Division III national championship unit in 2009.
She was a three-time indoor All-American, placing seventh at the NCAA Division III Championship with the 1,600-meter relay squad in 2008 and 2009, and earning a second-place finish in the distance medley relay in 2010. Peloquin contributed to the triumphant 1,600-meter relay quartet at the 2008 WIAC indoor meet.
Peloquin was a member of UW-Eau Claire’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and the Kinesiology Club. She served as a volunteer at Sacred Heart Hospital, Athletes in Action, Relay For Life, Jingle Bell Run/Walk for Arthritis and UW-Eau Claire’s Community Fitness Program.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must have completed intercollegiate eligibility in her primary sport by the end of the 2011 spring season, graduated no later than the end of the summer 2011 term and achieved a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 2.5.
The national winner will be chosen by the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics and will be announced in an Oct. 16 ceremony in Indianapolis.
The top 30 honorees also include: Laura Barito (Stevens Institute of Technology); Danielle Blair (University of Alabama at Birmingham); Michaela Calnan (Bowdoin College); Whitney Carlson (North Dakota State University); Catherine Carr (Holy Family University); Annie Chandler (University of Arizona); Diane Da Silva (College of Saint Elizabeth); Audra Egenolf (Southern Methodist University); Hayley Emerick (Trinity University, Texas); Molly Evans (Carnegie Mellon University); Kristina Frahm (University of Maryland, Eastern Shore); Shannon Gagne (University of New Haven); Stormi Gale (Wingate University); Courtney Hammond (Dartmouth College); Victoria Hansen (West Liberty University); Nicole Horn (Henderson State University); Grace Johnson (University of Georgia); Colleen Kelly (Babson College); Elwen Hewenfei Li (Brigham Young University, Hawaii); Marcia McCord (Ithaca College); Maya Moore (University of Connecticut); Alida Muller-Wehlau (Armstrong Atlantic State University); Samantha Murphy (Grand Canyon University); Katalin Navarre (Denison University); Kelly Phillips (Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University); Barbara Pocza (Barry University); Sarah Stephens (Frostburg State University); Renee Tomlin (Georgetown University) and Kelsey Ward (Drury University).
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