UM's Teran, Lee's Ritter Nominated by GSC for NCAA Woman of the Year
INDIANAPOLIS — A total of 151 college athletes as their nominees for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year award from conferences offices. Representing the Gulf South Conference was Montevallo’s Evelina Teran and Lee’s Celine Ritter.
OFFICIAL RELEASE
A standout performer for the Falcons’ volleyball program, Teran was a fifth-year senior last season and posted a 3.92 grade point average while majoring in mathematics. She also earned All-GSC honors and named to the GSC All-Tournament Team. Teran earned numerous honors at Montevallo include the Margaret Blalock Award, as female student-athlete of the year, as well as academic honors such as the Joseph M. Cardon Scholarship and Marjorie Murdock Mathematics Scholarship.
Ritter was a graduate member for the Lady Flames cross country and track & field programs during the 2021-22 academic year. She registered a 4.0 GPA in her Master’s Business Administration program, after logging a 3.87 as an undergraduate psychology major. Ritter earned countless athletic accolades for her stellar performances on the grass or track. She is also a two-time GSC Commissioner’s Trophy winner. Ritter has also been recognized academically, earning several GSC All-Academic Team honors, in addition to USTFCCCA All-Region and All-America nods.
The nominees represent student-athletes from 17 sports spanning all three NCAA divisions. Of those nominated, 53 nominees competed in Division I, 39 in Division II and 59 in Division III.
From the total pool of 577 nominees submitted by NCAA member schools, 547 were sent to conferences to select their nominees for consideration for the NCAA Woman of the Year award. The remaining 30 nominees (PDF) compete in a sport that is not sponsored by their school's primary conference or compete for an independent school. The non-conference/independent nominees are being reviewed by a committee, and on Aug. 4, five will be named to move forward in the process to complete the conference-level pool of 156 nominees.
The Woman of the Year Selection Committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will choose 10 nominees from each division to make up the national Top 30 honorees. The Top 30 honorees will be announced in October. From there, the selection committee will narrow the pool to three finalists from each division. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will select the 2022 Woman of the Year from the nine finalists.
At January's NCAA Convention in San Antonio, the national Top 30 honorees will be celebrated, and the NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced.
The NCAA Woman of the Year program is rooted in Title IX and has recognized graduating female college athletes for excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership since its inception in 1991. For more information about the program and previous winners, please visit ncaa.org/woty.