ROCK HILL, SC--Former Winthrop golfer Jennifer Dilger and basketball player Taylor Calvert are among 480 female student-athletes from NCAA member colleges and universities--the most ever in the history of the program--for the 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year award.
Now in its 25
th year, the Woman of the Year award honors graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in academics, athletics, service and leadership. Of the nominees, 207 competed in Division I, 93 competed in Division II and 180 competed in Division III athletics.
Dilger (Palmdale, CA) was voted to the All-Big South First Team by the conference head coaches and was also voted the 2015 Women's Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the league's sports information directors after achieving a 3.96 grade point average while majoring in exercise science. Dilger had two first place finishes in 2014-15.
Taylor (Shertz, TX) completed her career as the 11th all-time rebound leader as she had 678 in her 112-game career. She helped lead the Eagles to two post-season appearances--the 2013 Women's NIT and the 2014 NCAA Tournament. After leading the team in field goal shooting percentage as a freshman in 2011-12, Calvert completed her career as a 46 percent shooter.
Both athletes were also involved in Winthrop's Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) and took part in numerous community service volunteer projects.
The NCAA encourages member schools to honor its top graduating female student-athletes each year by submitting their names for consideration for the Woman of the Year award.
Then, conferences assess each nominee's eligibility and select up to two conference nominees. All conference nominees are forwarded to the Woman of the Year selection committee, which chooses the top 30 honorees – 10 from each division.
From the top 30, the selection committee determines the top three nominees from each division and announces the top nine finalists in September. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics then chooses from among those nine to determine the 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year.
The 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year winner will be announced, and the Top 30 honorees celebrated, at the annual award ceremony Oct. 18 in Indianapolis.
