Annie Chandler swims in the 100-yard breaststroke at the 2010 Pac-10 championships. Photo by Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE
University of Arizona swimmer Annie Chandler is still in the running for the NCAA Woman of the Year award, selected as one of nine finalists Wednesday.
If she wins, it would continue an amazing run for Wildcats swimming, which has produced the past two winners of the NCAA Woman of the year award — Justine Schluntz in 2010 and Lacey Nymeyer in 2009.
Chandler graduated cum laude with a bachelor of arts degree in journalism and a minor in art history. She was an 18-time All-American and swam on six NCAA champion relay teams for the Wildcats.
Here is the release from UA:
INDIANAPOLIS – Arizona Swimmer Annie Chandler (San Antonio, Texas) was one of nine finalists to be chosen for NCAA Woman of the Year, the NCAA announced on Wednesday. The award will be presented on Oct. 16 in Indianapolis.
The nine finalists, along with the other honorees who made the Top 30, will be invited to Indianapolis for the Woman of the Year festivities. The award weekend will include a community service project that gives honorees the opportunity to interact with young girls in the city of Indianapolis and serve as role models for them. The NCAA will also host a reception in their honor.
The NCAA’s Woman of the Year Award, now in its 21st year, honors female student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in academic achievement, athletic excellence, community service and leadership. Every NCAA member institution is encouraged to honor its top graduating female student-athlete by submitting her name for consideration. Each conference assesses the eligibility of its members’ nominees and selects at least one student-athlete to represent the conference.
To be eligible for the award, a female student-athlete must have completed 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 NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics selects the national winner from the nine finalists.
Last year’s NCAA Woman of the Year was Justine Schluntz, a 2010 Rhodes Scholar, swimmer and mechanical engineering major, from the University of Arizona.