Julia Rigothi & Allie Yamashiro Named as MAAC Honorees for 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year Award
EDISON, NJ – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) named Allie Yamashiro of Manhattan College and Julia Rigothi of Marist College as its conference honorees for the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
Yamashiro, a 2017 graduate of Manhattan, was a four-year member of the Jaspers volleyball team as the primary libero. Yamashiro, an Exercise Science Major, earned Dean’s List and MAAC-All Academic recognition. Yamashiro also served on Manhattan’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) as Vice President and was involved in Manhattan’s Student Government as Vice President for Communications. She received Manhattan’s Thomas H. Lindgren Medal of Excellence in Education, the Manhattan John S. Sich Medal for Kinesiology, and was a member of the Exercise Science Honor Social Phi Epsilon Kappa.
Rigothi, the 2017 Marist Female Sportsperson of the Year, served as team captain for two years and was a member of Marist Women’s Rowing Team. Rigothi earned Magna Cum Laude honors as Biomedical Science Major with a Minor in Mathematics. She was a member of the MAAC All-Academic team, the Dean’s Circle, and SAAC. Rigothi was a Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association National Scholar-Athlete and a member of the Marist Alpha Pi Chapter Sigma Zeta National Mathematics and Science Honor Society.
From a program-record pool of 543 school nominees, 145 female student-athletes have been nominated by conferences and an independent selection committee for consideration for the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
The nominees represent college athletes from 16 different sports spanning all three NCAA divisions. Of those recognized, 58 nominees competed in Division I, 34 in Division II and 53 in Division III.
For the first time, nominees competing in a sport not sponsored by their school's core conference were placed in a separate pool to be considered by a selection committee. Up to two independent nominees could be selected to move forward in the process with the conference nominees.
In early September, the Woman of the Year selection committee will name the Top 30 honorees, which include 10 women from each division. At the end of September, the selection committee will select and announce nine finalists, with three from each division. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will select the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year from those finalists.
The Top 30 honorees will be celebrated and the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year will be named at the annual banquet Oct. 22 in Indianapolis.
The NCAA Woman of the Year program has recognized graduating female student-athletes for excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership since its inception in 1991.