INDIANAPOLIS — Madeline Lovrensky of the University of La Verne women's swimming and diving team and women's water polo team has been nominated for the 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year Award, the NCAA announced on Friday.
Now in its 25th year, the Woman of the Year award honors graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in academics, athletics, service and leadership.
NCAA colleges and universities nominated a total of 480 female student-athletes for the 2015 award. Of the nominees, 203 competed in Division I, 93 competed in Division II and 180 competed in Division III.
Lovrensky left La Verne with five total All-American honors, nine individual SCIAC Championships and eight school records. She was also named the SCIAC Swimming and Diving Athlete of the Year in 2014 and 2015.
Lovrensky's crowning achievement came at the 2015 NCAA National Championships where she won the silver medal in the 100 yard backstroke, which was the best finish in La Verne history.
In addition to her work in the pool, Lovrensky has been actively involved in the community and on campus. She has served as La Verne's swimming and diving captain for three years, volunteered for the University's STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Summer Camps and volunteered for the area Special Olympics in 2014.
She graduated in Spring 2015 with a degree in biology and was named to Academic All-SCIAC teams all three years for which she was eligible. She was also named a La Verne Scholar Athlete all four years at La Verne.
This is the second in a row a La Verne female student-athlete was nominated for the award. Lenore Moreno '14 (track and field) was La Verne's nominee last year.
The NCAA encourages member schools to honor its top graduating female student-athletes each year by submitting their names for consideration for the Woman of the Year award.
Then, conferences assess each nominee's eligibility and select up to two conference nominees. Maddie Smith of Redlands is the other representative from the SCIAC. All conference nominees are forwarded to the Woman of the Year selection committee, which chooses the top 30 honorees – 10 from each division.
From the top 30, the selection committee determines the top three nominees from each division and announces the top nine finalists in September. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics then chooses from among those nine to determine the 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year.
The 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year winner will be announced, and the Top 30 honorees celebrated, at the annual award ceremony Oct. 18 in Indianapolis.
To view the list of school nominees, click here.