IRVING, Texas – Former University of Cincinnati cross country/track and field student-athlete Hannah Markel and former Southern Methodist University track and field student-athlete Ashton Woods have been named the American Athletic Conference honorees for the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year award.
Established in 1991, the NCAA Woman of the Year award is rooted in Title IX and recognizes graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their NCAA eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their collegiate careers.
Markel and Woods join 150 other conference-level nominees on the national ballot, with the Top 30 honorees for the award to be recognized in September. Nine finalists will emerge from Top 30 and the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced later this fall.
Four former American student-athletes have been named to the Top 30 of the NCAA Woman of the Year award process since 2014, most recently Memphis women’s soccer’s Stasia Mallin in 2020. Other Top 30 honorees from the conference have included UConn women’s basketball player Kia Nurse (2018), Cincinnati track and field competitor Juliana Madzia (2017) and Memphis track and field competitor Chardae Greenlee (2017).
Markel, a native of Chagrin Falls, Ohio represented Cincinnati as an NCAA Woman of the Year university nominee for the second straight year after COVID-19 cut short her senior outdoor track and field season in 2020. She received the 2020 Cincinnati C-Ring Women’s Leadership Award, an honor given annually to one graduating senior woman that represents a legacy of Cincinnati undergraduate women who exemplify advocacy for women and girls, a commitment to the University and the community, and academic excellence. Markel was believed to be the first Cincinnati student-athlete to receive the award since it was established in 1922. A multi-time American All-Academic Team member, Markel carried a 3.598 undergraduate GPA as a business major and was a member of Cincinnati’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).
Markel enjoyed a career-best finish of 14th place at the 2019 American Cross Country Championships to earn all-conference honors. She added a first-place showing that fall at the Cedarville Friendship Invitational during her senior cross country season. In her final collegiate start on the track, Markel finished ninth in the women’s 10,000-meter run at the 2021 American Outdoor Track and Field Championships in May.
Woods, a native of San Antonio, Texas, earned American All-Academic Team distinction in each competitive season as a standout at SMU. A mechanical engineering major with a minor in law and legal reasoning, Woods was the president of University’s chapter of SAAC, the secretary of the Alpha Chi Honor Society and was a co-founder of the Black Student-Athlete Committee at SMU. She also served as a student ambassador and vice president of organizational affairs for the Lyle School of Engineering.
Primarily competing in sprints and hurdles during her SMU career, Woods became the first Mustang hurdler to earn All-America status after placing 16th in the 400-meter hurdles at the 2021 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Woods was also the first SMU track and field student-athlete to qualify for multiple events (400-meter hurdles, 4x400-meter relay) at the NCAA Championships in 10 years. She earned a gold medal as a member of the SMU 4x400-meter relay entry that claimed victory at the 2020 American Indoor Track and Field Championships and added a pair of runner-up showings in the DMR for the Mustangs at the 2018 and 2019 editions of the American Indoor Championships.
American Athletic Conference NCAA Woman Of The Year Nominees (since 2014)
2021
Hannah Markel, Cincinnati, Women’s Cross Country/Track and Field
Ashton Woods, SMU, Women’s Track and Field
2020
Stasia Mallin, Memphis, Women’s Soccer (Top 30)
Evelyne Viens, South Florida, Women’s Soccer
2019
Annette Echikunwoke, Cincinnati, Women’s Track and Field
Loretta Blaut, Cincinnati, Women’s Track and Field
2018
Jordan Cotleur, Cincinnati, Women’s Soccer
Kia Nurse, UConn, Women’s Basketball (Top 30)
2017
Juliana Madzia, Cincinnati, Women’s Track and Field (Top 30)
Chardae Greenlee, Memphis, Women’s Track and Field (Top 30)
2016
Avery Acker, SMU, Women’s Indoor Volleyball
Morgan Tuck, UConn, Women’s Basketball
2015
Jamie Kaplan, Tulane, Women’s Basketball
Kiah Stokes, UConn, Women’s Basketball
2014
Kayla King, Houston, Women’s Track and Field
Catherine Leibbrandt, South Florida, Women’s Soccer