NCAA Release
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Two-sport athlete and recent Elmira College graduate,
Sarah Hughson '18, has been named one of the record-setting 581 nominees for the prestigious NCAA Woman of the Year Award, as announced by the national office this afternoon. Hughson is one of 170 multi-sport athletes in this year's pool and is among 199 nominees from the Division III level.
This afternoon's accolade is the most recent in a long list of accomplishments during the 2017-18 season for the East Haddam, Connecticut, native. Hughson enjoyed a breakout season on the ice this past year with 49 points (28g-21a) in 30 games, resulting in a plethora of awards, including CCM/AHCA All-America First Team, All-USCHO Second Team, UCHC Player of the Year, UCHC All-Conference First Team, UCHC All-Tournament Team, UCHC Tournament MVP and Elmira College Female Athlete of the Year. She posted career highs and ranked among national leaders in points (49), goals (28), power-play goals (9) and game-winning goals (5). Her point total ranked eighth in EC single-season history, while her goal total is tied for fourth place in the EC record books.
With the women's lacrosse team, Hughson, an Empire 8 All-Conference Honorable Mention, set a new program record for caused turnovers (121) after registering a career-high 45 and leading the E8 with 4.09 caused turnovers per game in 2018.
Not only was Hughson exceptional on the playing field, she was just as good in the classroom. She recently graduated magna cum laude with a 3.67 GPA in business administration with a concentration in marketing, which helped her garner Google Cloud Academic All-America® Division III Women's At-Large Third Team and Google Cloud Academic All-District® Women's At-Large Team accolades. She was a member of the Sigma Beta Delta Honor Society and an Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Academic Honor Roll award winner.
Hughson is the first EC student-athlete to be nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award since
Ashley Ryan '15 and
Ashton Hogan '15, both former teammates of Hughson's during her rookie season, were selected as conference representatives at the conclusion of the 2014-15 academic year. Other recent NCAA Woman of the Year nominees include
Taryn Rumsey '14 (women's volleyball) and
Lauren Sullivan '13 (women's ice hockey).
About the NCAA Woman of the Year Award
The NCAA Woman of the Year program honors the academic achievements, athletics excellence, community service and leadership of graduating female college athletes from all three divisions. To be eligible, a nominee must have competed and earned a varsity letter in an NCAA-sponsored sport, must have completed eligibility in her primary sport, and must have earned her undergraduate degree by Summer 2018.
Eligible female student-athletes are nominated by their member school. Each conference office then reviews the nominations from its core member schools (and sponsored sports) and submits its conference nominee(s) to the NCAA. All nominees that compete in a sport that is not sponsored by their core conference, associate conference nominees and independent nominees will be sent to a separate pool to be considered by a committee. Then, the NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee identifies the Top 30 – 10 from each division – and from there selects three finalists from each division. The Committee on Women's Athletics then selects the winner from the nine finalists.
All 30 Woman of the Year honorees will be recognized, and the 2018 Woman of the Year announced, at an awards dinner at the Westin Indianapolis on Sunday, Oct. 28, 2018.
