NCAA member schools have nominated 517 student-athletes for the 2016 Woman of the Year award. Former Bobcat women’s basketball standout Jackie Elliott was Montana State’s nominee.
The Billings product recently graduated with highest honors from MSU with a degree in mechanical engineering, after completing her playing eligibility at the conclusion of the 2014-15 season. Elliott was a four-year letter winner, starter and team captain during her time with the Bobcats. She is ranked 14th on MSU’s all-time rebounding chart with 589, and is listed sixth all-time with 120 games played.
The NCAA 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.
Off the court, Elliott served as President of the Montana State Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and garnered the 2012 Montana Athletes in Service Award for civically engaged student-athletes who have made significant contributions as volunteers in their communities.
This pool of school honorees marks the largest in the 26-year history of the award. Of the nominees for the national award, 231 competed in Division I, 117 competed in Division II and 169 competed in Division III athletics. The nominees also represent 21 different women’s sports, and 127 of the nominees competed in more than one sport in college.
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.
Next, conferences assess their member school nominees and select up to two conference 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 from among those nine to determine the 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year.
The top 30 honorees will be celebrated and the 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year winner will be announced at the annual award ceremony Oct. 16 in Indianapolis.
Press release courtesy of Tom Shultz – Montana State Sports Information. All Rights Reserved.
