Full list of institutional nominees (581 in total) for 2018 NCAA Woman of the Year award
NEW YORK | The Skyline Conference has announced that Sarah Lawrence College softball student-athlete Kamaron McNair, and Yeshiva University women's tennis student-athlete Shani Hava, have been selected as the conference's nominees for consideration for the prestigious NCAA Woman of the Year award.
The NCAA Woman of the Year award, established in 1991, honors graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service, and leadership throughout their collegiate careers.
Next up in the process, the Woman of the Year selection committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will 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 2018 NCAA Woman of the Year from those nine.
The Top 30 honorees will be celebrated and the 2018 NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced at the annual award ceremony Oct. 28 in Indianapolis.
McNair and Hava were two of a record 581 institutional nominees that were put forward by their respective campuses for consideration. Also nominated for consideration from the Skyline was St. Joseph's College-Long Island women's basketball standout and conference Player of the Year, Andrea Iavarone.
Kamaron McNair
"I am so honored to be nominated and proud to represent Sarah Lawrence College," said McNair. "The last four years have been the greatest experience of my life and helped mold who I am today and moving forward."
McNair is one of the greatest softball players to ever suit up at Sarah Lawrence, and was a key member in helping the Gryphons transition to NCAA Division III. McNair, who graduated with a career .309 batting average, was a four-year letterwinner and owns 10 school records, including the program's top marks for games played (126), games starts (125), at bats (369), hits (114), RBIs (81), innings pitched (259.1), strikeouts (130), complete games (31), putouts (536) and double plays turned (20). McNair was named to the Skyline All-Sportsmanship Team in 2015.
McNair is a three-time Skyline Academic Honor Roll member and a three-time Arthur Ashe Sports Scholar. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with a concentration in Writing and American History, graduating with a 3.66 grade-point average. She has interned at ELLE Magazine among other publications in New York State.
A team captain, McNair has shown excellent leadership skills during her career. In addition to her leadership on the field, she served as Vice-President of the Undergraduate Student Center from 2015-17, and was President of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) while being a Resident Advisor. In 2017, she was selected to attend the NCAA Division III Student Immersion Program. McNair also interned in the Office of Community Partnerships/Community Leadership Program.
"It was a no-brainer to honor Kamaron for this notable award," commented Director of Athletics and Physical Education Kristin Maile. "It was a pleasure to watch Kamaron grow over these four years and we are grateful for the hard work and dedication she put forward on and off the field."
Shani Hava
"I am really happy and ecstatic to earn the NCAA Woman of the Year nomination," Hava said. "It is an honor to be acknowledged for my dedication on the court and in the classroom. I want to thank all of my professors, coaches, the athletic department staff, and my teammates for helping me on my journey to be where I am today."
In 2017-18, Hava played a key role in Yeshiva winning the Skyline Conference championship, earning an undefeated record of 9-0 in #1 singles play, and picking up victories in eight out of 10 #1 doubles matches during the year. The graduating senior was named Most Outstanding Player of the Skyline championships. That same year, Hava's team was the first women's program in school history to compete in the NCAA tournament.
The Accounting and Business Intelligence & Marketing Analytics double-major was selected to the Google Cloud CoSIDA Academic All-America® At-Large second team, at the end of her senior year. Hava was named to the Skyline All-Conference first team four times in her illustrious career. The team captain earned the honor of being named the Skyline Player of the Year twice (2015 and 2017), as well as the conference's Rookie of the Year in 2014. The lefty ace finished her career with an impressive 31-3 record in #1 singles play.
In the classroom, Hava graduated with a cumulative GPA of 3.99 (the average GPA of all NCAA Woman of the Year nominees of 2018 is 3.69) and was named the Valedictorian of the Sy Sims School of Business. The graduating senior was inducted into the Skyline Academic Honor Roll four times, is a three-time conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and earned the honor of being named an Intercollegiate Tennis Association Scholar-Athlete just as many times. Hava has a strong chance to earn the Skyline Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and the honor of being an ITA Scholar-Athlete, for all four years of her outstanding collegiate career.
In 2017, Hava volunteered by riding bicycles with people who have low vision. She also spoke at the 2017 Yeshiva University Hanukkah Dinner as an honoree. Yeshiva's accomplished student-athlete was honored at the annual athletics banquet multiple times, earning the Aaron Meyer Memorial Award in 2017, and being named the Yeshiva University Female Graduating Student-Athlete of the Year in 2018. Hava was also inducted into the BETA Gamma Sigma Honor Society.
"Shani led our team for four years, and took us to the playoffs each year," Yeshiva University head coach Naomi Kaszovitz said. "Winning the Skyline Conference championship, and earning a bid to the NCAA tournament, was a group effort and a culmination of her focus and diligence."
Courtesy Sarah Lawrence and Yeshiva sports information