INDIANAPOLIS - A record 543 female college athletes have been nominated by NCAA member schools for the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year award. Of those nominees, 64 represent softball.
Established in 1991 and now in its 27th year, the NCAA Woman of the Year award honors graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their collegiate careers.
The school nominees represent all three NCAA divisions, with 229 from Division I, 117 from Division II and 197 from Division III. The nominees competed in 21 different women’s sports, and 122 were multisport athletes during their time in college.
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.
Next, conferences will select up to two conference nominees each from the pool of school nominees. The Woman of the Year selection committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will then 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 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year from those nine.
The top 30 honorees will be recognized and the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced at the annual award ceremony Oct. 22 in Indianapolis.
2017 NCAA Woman of the Year softball nominees
| First Name | Last Name | School | Sport(s) |
| Jesse | Applehans | Cornell College | Softball |
| Tayler | Barcomb | Coker College | Softball |
| Amanda | Blackwell | Georgia State University |
Softball |
| Samantha | Blum | Whittier College | Softball |
| Samantha | Bost | Lebanon Valley College |
Soccer, Softball |
| Tiffany | Brooks | Shaw University | Softball, Volleyball |
| Haley | Broomell | Neumann University | Softball |
| Kristen | Candelaria | St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) | Basketball, Cross Country, Soccer, Softball |
| Mary | Caron | University of Southern Maine |
Softball |
| Courtney | Case | Le Moyne College | Softball |
| Kristen | Clark | University of California, Santa Barbara | Softball |
| Marie | Collop | Berry College |
Softball |
| Mary-Clare | Couillard | Hamline University | Softball |
| Rachel | Couto | Worcester State University |
Softball |
| Amber | Dietrich | Cabrini College | Softball |
| Alyssa | Domico | Dominican University (Illinois) | Softball |
| Maddie | Dow | Southern Arkansas University | Softball |
| Danielle | Duman | Linfield College | Softball |
| Nicole | Evans | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign |
Softball |
| Zoe | Fanolis | Southern Connecticut State University |
Field Hockey, Softball |
| Brittany | File | Emory University | Softball |
| Faith | Flanders | Georgia College | Softball |
| Hannah | Flippen | University of Utah |
Softball |
| Megan | Good | James Madison University | Softball |
| Amanda | Gosbeth | University of Illinois at Springfield |
Softball |
| Madysen | Grimm | Kent State University |
Softball |
| Jalissa | Gum | Arkansas Tech University |
Softball |
| Lindsay | Gurska | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Softball |
| Holly | Haberkorn | Benedictine University (Illinois) | Softball |
| Tyler | Harrison | University of Alabama in Huntsville | Softball |
| Rebecca | Hartley | Troy University |
Softball |
| Morgan | Hasty | Johnson C. Smith University | Softball, Volleyball |
| Haley | Hayden | University of Louisiana at Lafayette |
Softball |
| Elaine | Heflin | University of Illinois at Chicago |
Softball |
| Carlee | Henderson | East Central University |
Softball |
| Laura | Lawson | Mansfield University of Pennsylvania |
Field Hockey, Softball |
| Stephanie | Lewis | Jacksonville State University | Softball |
| Amanda | Lochte | Texas Lutheran University |
Softball |
| Jessica | Long | Averett University | Softball |
| Kayla | Lynch | Salem International University |
Softball |
| Nina | Marcano | Wesley College |
Softball |
| Jenny | McTague | Lake Forest College | Softball |
| Taylor | Mohr | Rosemont College | Lacrosse, Soccer, Softball |
| Lauren | Moore | University of North Carolina Wilmington |
Softball |
| Alena | Moreno | St. Mary's University (Texas) | Softball |
| Jayme | Perez | East Texas Baptist University | Softball |
| Madison | Perez | Whitworth University | Softball |
| Jeanie | Perrucci | Young Harris College |
Softball |
| Sydney | Ponto | Caldwell University | Softball |
| Alexandra | Powers | Florida State University | Softball |
| Morgan | Rathman | Missouri Western State University |
Softball |
| Ryan | Rector | University of South Carolina Upstate |
Softball |
| Nicole | Ries | Minnesota State University, Mankato | Softball |
| Lydia | Ritchie | East Carolina University | Softball |
| Alexis | Schiff | University of La Verne |
Softball |
| Sydney | Slusser | Lenoir-Rhyne University | Softball |
| Gabrielle | Snyder | University of Dayton |
Softball |
| Carly | Sobrilsky | Concordia University Wisconsin | Softball |
| Lydia | Stariha | Grinnell College |
Basketball, Softball |
| Kierin | Stevens | The University of Texas at Tyler |
Softball |
| Hannah | Tavik | Frostburg State University | Softball |
| Kristen | Turner | Iona College | Softball |
| Megan | Warren | Defiance College | Softball |
| Amanda | Witzlib | Luther College | Softball |
-- Courtesy of the NCAA
