Sept. 1, 2010
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - More than 100 NCAA female student-athletes representing multiple sports in all three divisions have been selected as Woman of the Year nominees by their conferences and by independent institutions. The 131 student-athletes were identified from a record number of 452 nominees.
The NCAA announced Charlotte's Hailey Beam and La Salle's Shannon Duval as the Atlantic 10 Conference nominees for the 2010 Woman of the Year Award.
Beam was named the Atlantic 10's Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year in a vote by the league's athletics directors this past year. Beam, the 49ers women's soccer program's first consensus All-America, is a two-time Atlantic 10 Midfielder of the Year, a two-time ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America and a two-time A-10 Women's Soccer Student-Athlete of the Year.
During her career, the Cornelius, N.C., native was named a second-team All-America by both Soccer America and Soccer News and third-team All-America by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) and TopDrawerSoccer.com. She was also named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com 2009 National Team of the Season. A member of the 2007 and 2008 Atlantic 10 Tournament champion squads, Beam became just the second player in league history to twice be named A-10 Championship Most Outstanding Player. A member of three A-10 regular-season champions, she led the 49ers to two NCAA Tournament appearances in her four seasons.
Beam graduated magna cum laude with a 3.81 GPA in Finance and Marketing. She earned first team ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America honors in 2009 and second-team honors in 2008. She was named the A-10's Women's Soccer Student-Athlete of the Year in 2008 and 2009 and was a first team NSCAA Scholar All-America in 2008. Beam is one of just six athletes in school history to earn both athletic and academic All-America honors. She is the third 49er to win the A-10 Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award.
Duval capped off a stellar senior season for the La Salle swimming and diving squad winning both the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke at the 2010 Atlantic 10 Championships, as well as placing third in the 200 IM. During the season, she became the first female swimmer in the A-10 Conference to earn three consecutive Performer of the Week nods. Duval was also named A-10 Student-Athlete of the Year in Women's Swimming, All-Area Performer of the Year by the Philadelphia Inquirer and to the A-10 All-Conference Team.
Duval holds the school record in the 100-breast, 200-breast, 200-free, 200-IM and is part of the La Salle record-holding 200-free, 400-free, 800-free, 200 medley and 400 medley relays. Duval received her degree in Accounting in May of 2010, graduating with a 3.81 GPA.
The recent La Salle graduate added another post-season honor to her list after being named to the College Swimming Coaches Association of America All-Academic Team.
A selection committee composed of representatives from NCAA member schools and conferences will select 10 nominees from each division to form the Top 30 nominees for the 2010 Woman of the Year Award. The selection committee will narrow down the Top 30 to three finalists from each division. From the nine remaining finalists, the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will select the national winner. The recipient will be announced during the 2010 Woman of the Year dinner in Indianapolis on October 17, 2010.
The NCAA Woman of the Year award, now in its 20th year, honors female student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate career in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, community service and leadership. The 2009 NCAA Woman of the Year was University of Arizona women's swimming student-athlete Lacey Nymeyer.
About the A-10
The Atlantic 10 Conference was formed in 1976 and celebrates its 35th anniversary as a Division I Conference in 2010-11. Currently comprised of 14 member institutions and sponsoring 21 championship sports, the mission and goal of the Atlantic 10 is to preserve, protect, and enhance the academic and athletic pursuits of the membership. The conference is committed to integrity, educational excellence and providing quality equitable championship experiences for more than 6,000 student-athletes, coaches, and support staff. The member institutions of the Atlantic 10 are the University of Dayton, Duquesne University, Fordham University, The George Washington University, La Salle University, University of Massachusetts, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, University of Rhode Island, University of Richmond, St. Bonaventure University, Saint Joseph's University, Saint Louis University, Temple University, and Xavier University.
--www.atlantic10.org--