Seven MAAC Student-Athletes Nominated for the 2019 NCAA Woman of the Year Award
EDISON, N.J. – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) has seven female student-athletes that have been nominated for the 2019 NCAA Woman of the Year Award. Seven MAAC institutions and three sports are represented in this year’s pool of nominees.
MAAC Nominees
| Sarah Forman |
Siena College |
Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field and Cross Country |
| Sara Gardner |
Rider University |
Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field |
| Mikeisha Kelly |
Manhattan College |
Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field |
| Rachel MacCheyne |
Niagara University |
Lacrosse |
| Alisha Marshall |
Fairfield University |
Softball |
| Brianna Stratz |
Monmouth University |
Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field and Cross Country |
| Hailey Wagner |
Marist College |
Lacrosse |
“The MAAC is proud to have these incredible female student-athletes represent the conference” notes Senior Associate Commissioner Jessica Hegmann Grasso, “Their collegiate careers of hard work, sacrifice, dedication, and success both in the classroom and in their sport should be recognized through this prestigious honor.”
NCAA member schools have nominated a record 585 female college athletes for the 2019 NCAA Woman of the Year award. The nominees competed in 23 different women’s sports across all three NCAA divisions, including 262 from Division I, 131 from Division II and 192 from Division III. Multisport student-athletes account for 144 of the nominees.
The NCAA Woman of the Year award, established in 1991, honors graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their collegiate careers. The NCAA encourages member schools to honor their top graduating female student-athletes each year by submitting their names for consideration for the Woman of the Year award.
The MAAC, along with other conferences will select up to two nominees each from the pool of school nominees. Then, the Woman of the Year selection committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will 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 2019 NCAA Woman of the Year from those nine.
The Top 30 honorees will be celebrated and the 2019 NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced at the annual award ceremony Sunday, October 20 in Indianapolis.
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 39
th year of competition during the 2019-20 academic year. Current Conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.