NCAA Woman of the Year Conference Honorees

INDIANAPOLIS (Conference News) – On Thursday, the NCAA announced the conference honorees for the 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year award. A record 147 NCAA college athletes have been named honorees by conferences and independent schools. Three student-athletes will represent the Middle Atlantic Conferences, including Lebanon Valley’s Cynthia Adams, Messiah’s Becky Ely and Misericordia’s Megan Mahoney.
 
The 147 honorees, selected from a record 480 school nominees, represent college athletes from 18 different sports spanning all three NCAA Divisions. Of those recognized, 57 honorees competed in Division I, 39 competed in Division II and 51 competed in Division III.
 
Adams, representing the Middle Atlantic Conference, won Lebanon Valley’s first-ever track & field national championship with an 800-meter victory at the 2015 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. She is a three-time All-American in the event. Across both indoor and outdoor seasons, she qualified for six NCAA Championships. In conference competition, she was an undefeated 12-time MAC Champion in the 800-meter, mile and 1,500-meter runs. Adams was the 2014 MAC Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year and the 2011 MAC Outdoor Rookie of the Year. She is also an Academic All-American, and is currently pursuing her doctorate in physical therapy.
 
Ely, representing the MAC Commonwealth, was a two-sport athlete at Messiah competing in field hockey and lacrosse. She led the field hockey team to 61-21 overall record with four conference championships. As a defender, she scored nine goals and added 10 assists for 28 points. Ely was the 2011 Commonwealth Rookie of the Year, and was a three-time all-conference first team honoree in field hockey. In lacrosse, Ely led the Falcons to a 51-23 record and one conference championship. She collected 86 ground balls and caused 38 turnovers during her career on defense. Ely was named Messiah’s Female Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
 
Mahoney, representing the MAC Freedom, led Misericordia to its third-straight women’s soccer conference title and fourth-straight NCAA Division III Tournament appearance in 2014. She finished the season with 21 goals, 11 assists and 56 points to rank in the top-20 in Division III in all categories. In just two seasons at Misericordia, she is now fourth in career points (109) and tied for second in career assists with 33. Mahoney was named the Freedom Offensive Player of the Year in 2014. She was two-time all-American and an academic all-American in 2014.
 
All three girls were named MAC Scholar-Athletes at the 2015 MAC Annual Awards Luncheon.
 
The Woman of the Year selection committee will next select the top-10 honorees in each division. These top-30 honorees will be announced in early September The selection committee will then choose and announce the top-nine finalists (three from each division) at the end of September. The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics will votes from amongst those nine finalists to determine the 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year.
 
The top-30 honorees will be honored and the 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year will be named at the annual ceremony in Indianapolis on October 18.
 
Now in its 25th year, the NCAA Woman of the Year award recognizes graduating female student-athletes for excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership.