CAMBRIDGE, Mass. —
Nine institutional nominees for the 2011 America East Woman of the Year award have been announced by the conference office. University at Albany’s Nikki Branchini (women’s lacrosse), Binghamton University’s Michelle McDonough (volleyball), Boston University’s April Setterlund (softball), University of Hartford’s Mary Silvia (women’s basketball), University of Maine’s Maire Dineen (field hockey), UMBC’s Meghan Colabella (women’s basketball), University of New Hampshire’s Rita Ciambra (track and field), Stony Brook University’s Deb Aller (women’s soccer) and University of Vermont’s Megan MacDonald (women’s lacrosse) have been chosen as the senior female student-athletes on their respective campuses that best exemplified a commitment to service, leadership, athletics and academics during their collegiate careers.
To be nominated, student-athletes must have completed intercollegiate eligibility in her primary sport by the end of the 2011 spring season or received her undergraduate degree prior to the conclusion of the summer 2011 term and have a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 2.500 (4.000 scale).
In conjunction with the changes in the nomination process for the NCAA Woman of the Year award, the America East Woman of the Year award was established for the 2005-06 athletic season. Beginning in 2006, the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics (CWA) started receiving conference-designated nominees in lieu of the previous institution- and state-based nomination format.
The nominees will be narrowed down to three finalists on Wednesday, May 25 via a release on the conference web site with the America East Woman of the Year being announced at the conference’s Annual Meeting in Portsmouth, N.H. on Tuesday, June 7.
The America East Woman of the Year will then be forwarded to the NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee. The selection committee will select the top 10 winners in each NCAA division (I, II and III). From among those 30 honorees, the selection committee will determine the top three in each division. Finally, the members of the CWA will vote from among the top nine to determine the 2010 NCAA Woman of the Year.
2011 Institutional Woman of the Year Nominees
Nominee School Sport
Nikki Branchini Albany Women’s Lacrosse
Michelle McDonough Binghamton Volleyball
April Setterlund Boston U. Softball
Mary Silvia Hartford Women’s Basketball
Maire Dineen Maine Field Hockey
Meghan Colabella UMBC Women’s Basketball
Rita Ciambra New Hampshire Track & Field
Deb Aller Stony Brook Women’s Soccer
Megan MacDonald Vermont Women’s Lacrosse
Year-by-Year America East Woman of the Year Honorees
2010 Emily Pallotta, Boston U. (Women’s Soccer)
2009 Kristen Millar, Vermont (Women’s Lacrosse)
2008 Sarah Hudak, Boston U. (Field Hockey)
2007 Marisa Ryan, Boston U. (Cross Country/Track & Field)
2006 Ashlee Reed, Albany (Volleyball)