Bronx, N.Y. – Fordham University graduate student and women's soccer standout
Jessica Widmann was named a nominee for the 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year award it was announced today. She is one of 517 student-athletes from across the country to be nominated for the award.
The NCAA 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.
Widmann capped her Fordham women's soccer career with an outstanding season, earning 2015 First Team NSCAA All-Mid-Atlantic Region, First Team All-Atlantic 10 and Second Team ECAC All-Star accolades. She led Fordham in goals (12), assists (5), and points (29), while tying for the team-lead in game-winning goals with five. The 12 goals and 29 points tied for the third-most by a Ram in a single season. She earned Atlantic 10 Co-Player of the Week honors once last fall and led the Rams to the title game of the Atlantic 10 Championship, earning a spot on the 2015 Atlantic 10 All-Championship Team in the process. Widmann was also named a co-recipient of 2015-16 Claire & Jack Hobbs Memorial Award as the Fordham Female Student-Athlete of the Year.
Academically, Widmann earned 2015 Third Team CoSIDA Academic All-American
® honors and was named to the Atlantic 10 Commissioner's Honor Roll for the third straight year.
Widmann graduates from Fordham as one of the all-time women's soccer greats. This season she climbed into top six at Fordham in career goals (6th - 19), assists (T2nd - 14), points (6th - 52), and games started (T1st – 75).
This pool of school honorees marks the largest in the 26-year history of the award. Of the nominees for the national award, 231 competed in Division I, 117 competed in Division II and 169 competed in Division III athletics. The nominees also represent 21 different women's sports, and 127 of the nominees competed in more than one sport in college.
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 assess their member school nominees and select up to two conference 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 from among those nine to determine the 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year.
The top 30 honorees will be celebrated and the 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year winner will be announced at the annual award ceremony
Oct. 16 in Indianapolis.
To view the list of school nominees, click
here.
