The Hillsdale College Athletic Department is pleased to announce that women's cross country and track athlete and recent Hillsdale graduate Arena Lewis is our nominee for the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
The NCAA Woman of the Year award was established in 1991 to recognize graduating female student-athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their collegiate careers.
NCAA member schools are encouraged to honor their top graduating female college athlete each year by submitting their name for consideration for the award. This year, a record 605 athletes from across all three NCAA Divisions were submitted, including 126 Division II athletes.
Lewis was selected as Hillsdale's nominee because of her outstanding accomplishments on and off the playing field during her time at Hillsdale.
As an athlete, she was a Division II All-American in Cross Country in 2018, a four time national meet qualifier in cross country and track and field, and a ten-time Great Midwest Athletic Conference placer in her sports, with four conference runner-up finishes in cross country and track and field.
Lewis also served as a team captain in both cross country and track and field, and was a scoring member of five G-MAC championship-winning teams over her four years in college.
Off the course, she was an excellent student, graduating Cum Laude this spring from Hillsdale with a B.S. in Biochemistry. She was the 2020 recipient of the Hillsdale College Marsden Prize in Botany, as well as a member and officer of the Hillsdale branch of Iota Sigma Pi, the national Chemistry Honorary.
She was also active in the community during her time at Hillsdale, working with the Adopt-a-Grandparent program and the Journal Buddies program, among several other charitable causes.
The G-MAC office will next select up to two nominees each from the pool of eligible nominees from the G-MAC's 13 member institutions for the 2019-20 school year. All candidates selected by their conference will be considered by the Woman of the Year selection committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, who will choose the Top 30 honorees – 10 from each division.
From the Top 30, the Woman of the Year selection committee will determine the top three honorees in each division and announce nine finalists. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics then will choose the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year, who will be named this fall.
For more information on the award and the nomination process, as well as past honorees, visit the NCAA Woman of the Year website here.