INDIANAPOLIS—The NCAA announced today the 10 finalists for the 2004 NCAA Woman of the Year award, one of the most prestigious honors the NCAA bestows. The University of Portland’s Imani Dorsey has been selected as a finalist for the national award which will be announced on Oct. 31, 2004.
Dorsey finished her brilliant career at Portland in leading the Pilots to four straight trips to the NCAA Tournament and a national championship in the 2002 season. The 2003 WCC Defender of the Year anchored a defense which recorded a 76-16-4 record during her career. Dorsey earned numerous honors including first team all-West Region and All-America honors with Soccer Buzz and Soccer Post Magazine. Dorsey, an Interdisciplinary Studies major, posted a 3.84 grade-point average, made the Dean’s List for eight consecutive semesters, was twice selected as an Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar, and served as the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Vice President at Portland. The Santa Monica, Calif. native was also honored with the WCC Commissioner’s Honor Roll Gold Award, was a CoSIDA Academic All American, an All-America NSCAA Scholar-Athlete selection, the 2003 WCC Co-Female Scholar Athlete of the Year, and an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Recipient. Away from campus, Dorsey volunteered time with elementary schools, the Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, and helped families at the Ronald McDonald House.
This award recognizes young women in intercollegiate athletics for their outstanding achievements in athletics, academics and community service.
This year’s finalists, who have an average grade-point average of 3.81 on a 4.0 scale, graduated or will graduate with degrees in majors such as biology, chemistry, food science, kinesiology, math, pre-medicine and Spanish.
The 10 finalists for the 2004 NCAA Woman of the Year award include six NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipients, and seven of the 10 are or were involved with the NCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committees (SAAC) on their campuses and in their conferences. SAAC is a committee made up of student-athlete leaders assembled to provide insight on the student-athlete experience. The SAAC also offers input on the rules, regulations and policies that affect student-athletes’ lives on NCAA member institution campuses and it is the “student voice” in the NCAA’s governance structure.
The finalists are volunteers who served as peer counselors, “adopted” a family at Christmas, volunteered for a food bank, worked with the Special Olympics and participated in a missions trip to Peru.
Of the finalists, six are from Division I member institutions, two are from Division II and two are from Division III. They represent a variety of sports, including lacrosse, swimming, indoor and outdoor track, cross country and soccer, from schools in California, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon and Virginia.
The 10 finalists are:
· Kelly Albin, California, University of California, Davis, lacrosse. Hometown: Fort Bragg, California.
· Julie Hardt, Georgia, University of Georgia, swimming. Hometown: Reno, Nevada.
· Abbey Elsberry, Idaho, Boise State University, indoor and outdoor track. Hometown: Billings, Montana.
· Megan Grunert, Indiana, University of Indianapolis, swimming. Hometown: Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.
· Sherita Williams, Michigan, Michigan State University, indoor and outdoor track. Hometown: Tampa, Florida.
· Kinsey Coles, North Dakota, North Dakota State University, cross country, indoor and outdoor track. Hometown: Hillsboro, North Dakota.
· Kayla Heising, Ohio, College of Wooster, swimming. Hometown: Wauseon, Ohio.
· Shana Robinson, Oklahoma, University of Tulsa, indoor and outdoor track. Hometown: Tulsa, Oklahoma.
· Imani Dorsey, Oregon, University of Portland, soccer. Hometown: Santa Monica, California.
· Melissa Block, Virginia, Mary Washington College, lacrosse. Hometown: Annapolis, Maryland.
This is the 14th year the Woman of the Year award has been given.
The finalists were selected from 276 entries by a committee comprised of athletics administrators from NCAA member colleges and universities. The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics will select the 2004 NCAA Woman of the Year from among the 10 finalists. The national winner will be announced at an awards dinner October 31, in Indianapolis.
Last year’s national winner was Ashley Rowatt, a swimming and diving standout from Kenyon College, a Division III school in Gambier, Ohio. She was the first student-athlete in Division III to win the award.
Other past winners include: 2002 – Tanisha Silas, track and field, University of California, Davis; 2001 – Kimberly A. Black, Olympic gold medal swimmer, University of Georgia; 2000 – Kristy Kowal, Olympic silver medal swimmer, University of Georgia; 1999 – Jamila Demby, track and field, University of California, Davis; 1998 – Peggy Boutilier, lacrosse and field hockey, University of Virginia; 1997 – the late Lisa Ann Coole, swimming, University of Georgia; 1996 – Billie Winsett Fletcher, volleyball, University of Nebraska, Lincoln; 1995 – Rebecca Lobo, basketball, University of Connecticut; 1994 – Tanya Hughes Jones, track and field, University of Arizona; 1993 – Nnenna Jean Lynch, cross country and track and field, Villanova University; 1992 – Catherine Byrne Maloney, swimming, University of Tennessee, Knoxville; and 1991 – Mary Beth Riley-Metcalf, cross country, Canisius College.
