The American Athletic Conference and the NCAA have announced that former track and field student-athletes Juliana Madzia of Cincinnati and Chardae Greenlee of Memphis are the conference’s nominees for the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
Now in its 27th year, the NCAA Woman of the Year award recognizes graduating female student-athletes for excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership.
Madzia and Greenlee are among a record pool of 543 school nominees (145 student-athletes) who have been nominated by their respective conferences and an independent selection committee for consideration for the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
Madiza, Cincinnati's recipient of the 2016-17 American Athletic Conference Female Scholar-Athlete Award, ranks 10th all-time in the Bearcats' record book in the 10,000m run. She received American Cross Country All-Conference honors this past season and was named to the Dean's List at UC seven times. A 2017 Rhodes Scholarship finalist, Madiza posted a 4.0 undergraduate cumulative GPA in Neuroscience and earned First Team Academic All-America® Track & Field/Cross Country honors by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Greenlee, a 2017 USTFCCCA All-Academic honoree, is a two-time All-American Athletic Conference outdoor triple jump champion. She graduated magna cum laude from Memphis with a bachelor of science in education. Majoring in sport and leisure management, Greenlee finished her undergradate years with a 3.73 cumulative grade point average. A two-time All-American Athletic Conference All-Academic honoree, she was named to the Dean's List three times and received the 2017 John McLendon Minority Postgraduate Scholarship Award sponsored by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and the John McLendon Minority Scholarship Foundation.
The NCAA Woman of the Year nominees represent college athletes from 16 different sports spanning all three NCAA divisions. Of those recognized, 58 nominees competed in Division I, 34 in Division II and 53 in Division III.
In early September, the Woman of the Year selection committee will name the Top 30 honorees, which include 10 women from each division. At the end of September, the selection committee will select and announce nine finalists, with three from each division. The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics will select the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year from those finalists.
The Top 30 honorees will be celebrated and the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year will be named at the annual banquet Oct. 22 in Indianapolis.
The NCAA Woman of the Year program has recognized graduating female student-athletes for excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership since its inception in 1991.
CLICK HERE for the complete list of NCAA Woman of the Year nominees