INDIANAPOLIS — Alexis Schiff of the University of La Verne softball team has been nominated for the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year Award, the NCAA announced on Tuesday.
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.
Schiff leaves La Verne as one of the best players in the storied program's history. She amassed 42 home runs, 153 RBIs and 117 runs in four years while posting a triple slash line of .384/.453/.727.
She was named the 2017 SCIAC Softball Athlete of the Year after leading the conference in virtually every offensive category. She led the Leopards to the conference championship double this year and La Verne's first NCAA Championship berth since 2010.
Schiff was named to First Team NFCA All-West Region Team this year and Second Team in 2016. She was selected to First Team All-SCIAC every year from 2015-17 and was tabbed Second Team as a freshman in 2014.
In addition to her work on the field, Schiff has been actively involved in the community and on campus. She helped run softball clinics for the area Special Olympic Softball Teams for the last four years and helped clean, cook, and do other chores for the Pasadena Ronald McDonald House in 2015. She also served as the team's representative on La Verne's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
She graduated with a degree in business administration and was named the 2017 La Verne Scholar Athlete of the Year. She was also selected to Academic All-SCIAC Teams every year she was eligible and was named a La Verne Scholar Athlete all four years.
Schiff is La Verne's third NCAA Woman of the Year nominee in four years. Lenore Moreno '14 (Cross Country, Indoor Track and Field, Outdoor Track and Field) was nominated in 2014 and Madeline Lovrensky '15 (Women's Swimming and Diving, Women's Water Polo) earned the honors in 2015.
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.
To view the list of school nominees, click here.