Duo Nominees for NCAA Woman of the Year
July 12, 2018 02:29 PM | Rifle, Track & Field
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Amy Cashin (cross country and track & field) and Elizabeth Gratz (rifle) are West Virginia University's nominees for the 2018 NCAA Woman of the Year award.
A native of Werribee, Victoria, Australia, Cashin earned All-Big 12 and All-Mid-Atlantic Region honors in cross country before claiming Second Team All-America accolades at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Championships last March. Cashin placed ninth in the women's mile at the national meet, finishing in 4:43.67. She also earned Second Team All-America distinction during the outdoor season at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships, registering a 13th-place finish in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase in a school-record time of 9:58.75. In all, Cashin has tallied three All-America honors in her collegiate career.
Cashin, who was named to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team for cross country and track and field in 2017-18, repeated as the Big 12 Women's Track and Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year in June, becoming the conference's first-back-to-back winner in the sport. She also was named to the 2018 Google Cloud CoSIDA Women's Track and Field/Cross Country Academic All-America First Team, her second career Academic All-America honor and first appearance on the first team.
Cashin, who graduated with a bachelor's degree in sports and exercise psychology with a double minor in psychology and athletic coaching in 2017, holds a 4.0 grade point average (GPA) while pursuing a master's degree in counseling.
A native of Sigel, Illinois, Gratz is a three-time CoSIDA Academic All-American and a two-time first-team honoree. Additionally, she won the Elite 90 Award at the 2017 and 2018 NCAA Rifle National Championships.
Gratz graduated from WVU in May with a 4.0 GPA in marketing. A four-time Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) Scholar-Athlete, she was named to the last three Academic All-Big 12 At-Large First Teams. Additionally, Gratz is a four-time College Rifle Coaches Association (CRCA) All-Academic Team honoree and was a member of the President's List, the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll and the Garrett Ford Academic Honor Roll. She capped her WVU career with the 2018 Dr. Gerald Lage Academic Achievement Award, the Big 12 Conference's highest academic honor, and received the 2017-18 Dr. Prentice Gautt Postgraduate Scholarship.
Gratz finished second in air rifle at the 2018 NCAA Championships and helped the Mountaineers capture three NCAA titles from 2015-17, as well as four GARC Championships from 2015-18. An eight-time National Rifle Association (NRA) All-American, she also is a four-time CRCA All-American. Gratz earned the 2018 GARC Outstanding Senior award and received 12 career All-GARC honors.
Cashin and Gratz are among 581 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 nominees competed in 20 different women's sports across all three NCAA divisions, including 251 from Division I, 131 from Division II and 199 from Division III. A program-record 170 were multisport athletes in college.
Conferences now 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 2018 NCAA Woman of the Year from those nine.
The Top 30 honorees will be celebrated and the 2018 NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced at the annual award ceremony Oct. 28 in Indianapolis.
A native of Werribee, Victoria, Australia, Cashin earned All-Big 12 and All-Mid-Atlantic Region honors in cross country before claiming Second Team All-America accolades at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Championships last March. Cashin placed ninth in the women's mile at the national meet, finishing in 4:43.67. She also earned Second Team All-America distinction during the outdoor season at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships, registering a 13th-place finish in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase in a school-record time of 9:58.75. In all, Cashin has tallied three All-America honors in her collegiate career.
Cashin, who was named to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team for cross country and track and field in 2017-18, repeated as the Big 12 Women's Track and Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year in June, becoming the conference's first-back-to-back winner in the sport. She also was named to the 2018 Google Cloud CoSIDA Women's Track and Field/Cross Country Academic All-America First Team, her second career Academic All-America honor and first appearance on the first team.
Cashin, who graduated with a bachelor's degree in sports and exercise psychology with a double minor in psychology and athletic coaching in 2017, holds a 4.0 grade point average (GPA) while pursuing a master's degree in counseling.
A native of Sigel, Illinois, Gratz is a three-time CoSIDA Academic All-American and a two-time first-team honoree. Additionally, she won the Elite 90 Award at the 2017 and 2018 NCAA Rifle National Championships.
Gratz graduated from WVU in May with a 4.0 GPA in marketing. A four-time Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) Scholar-Athlete, she was named to the last three Academic All-Big 12 At-Large First Teams. Additionally, Gratz is a four-time College Rifle Coaches Association (CRCA) All-Academic Team honoree and was a member of the President's List, the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll and the Garrett Ford Academic Honor Roll. She capped her WVU career with the 2018 Dr. Gerald Lage Academic Achievement Award, the Big 12 Conference's highest academic honor, and received the 2017-18 Dr. Prentice Gautt Postgraduate Scholarship.
Gratz finished second in air rifle at the 2018 NCAA Championships and helped the Mountaineers capture three NCAA titles from 2015-17, as well as four GARC Championships from 2015-18. An eight-time National Rifle Association (NRA) All-American, she also is a four-time CRCA All-American. Gratz earned the 2018 GARC Outstanding Senior award and received 12 career All-GARC honors.
Cashin and Gratz are among 581 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 nominees competed in 20 different women's sports across all three NCAA divisions, including 251 from Division I, 131 from Division II and 199 from Division III. A program-record 170 were multisport athletes in college.
Conferences now 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 2018 NCAA Woman of the Year from those nine.
The Top 30 honorees will be celebrated and the 2018 NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced at the annual award ceremony Oct. 28 in Indianapolis.
Players Mentioned
Distance
/ Track & Field
/ Rifle
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