APPLETON, Wis. — Lawrence University swim standout Hayley Cardinal is among the nominees for the coveted NCAA Woman of the Year award.
Cardinal (Lombard, Ill./Glenbard East), a senior who also runs track for the Vikings, is a senior who earned degrees in German and linguistics.
Cardinal, named to the Scholar All-America team by the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America, was a three-time Midwest Conference champion in the pool. She was the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke in 2016 and took the the 100 breaststroke title in 2014.
Cardinal, who swam to multiple NCAA “B” cuts during her career, holds the Lawrence record in the 100 and 200 breaststroke and the 200 individual medley. A four-time Midwest Conference Swimmer of the Week in 2015-16, Cardinal also is part of the school record-setting 200 and 400 medley relay teams.
A swim team captain, Cardinal also is a member of the Academic All-Midwest Conference team. She also runs the hurdles and relays for the Lawrence track team. Cardinal also captured Lawrence’s Charles E. Pond Award for Women, which is given for all-around athletic ability by a senior woman in two or more sports and for sportsmanship, school spirit and scholarship.
Cardinal was among six Midwest Conference student-athletes nominated for the Woman of the Year award. A total of 169 Division III student-athletes were nominated.
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.