NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — A pair of outstanding student-athletes have been chosen as the Atlantic 10 Conference nominees for the prestigious NCAA Woman of the Year Award. Dayton's Araion Bradshaw and Saint Joseph's Jordan Olenginski were named the league candidates for one of the NCAA’s most notable honors.
 
Bradshaw, a women's basketball student-athlete and Olenginski, a field hockey student-athlete, both were seniors  during the 2020-21 season. Both were chosen as the conference nominees by the Atlantic 10’s Senior Woman Administrators (SWAs) based on their community involvement and leadership abilities, athletic achievements, and academic prowess. They were selected from a league-record pool of 16 extraordinary institutional nominees, representing seven different sports and all 14 A-10 member institutions.
 
“Araion and Jordan represent the best of the Atlantic 10. They are very active in their communities and in the college athletics space, working to make the world a better place, while maintaining excellent academic credentials. They were also key players in leading their teams to multiple A-10 Championships,” stated A-10 Commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade. “I congratulate them on this well-deserved nomination, and on stellar careers as student-athletes.”
 
Per the NCAA, all conference-level nominees are forwarded to the Woman of the Year selection committee. The selection committee will choose the top 10 honorees in each division. From among those 30 honorees, the selection committee will determine the three finalists in each division. Finally, the members of the Committee on Women’s Athletics will vote from among the top nine finalists to determine the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year. The top 30 honorees will be honored, and the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year winner will be announced this fall.
 
Araion Bradshaw has had an impact on Dayton and college athletics both on the court and in the community. She won a national championship as a freshman before transferring to Dayton, where she started 82 of the 83 games she played in during her career, averaging 5.9 points and 3.3 assists in those three years. She was named the Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year and she earned Third Team All-Conference and All-Defensive Team honors as a senior, and as a junior was named to the All-Defensive Team. She finished her senior season ranked first all-time in UD history in assist-to-turnover ratio and top 20 in all-time assists.
 
A standout STEM student, Bradshaw received a Bachelor's of Science in Civil Engineering and completed her Master's of Science in Engineering Management. She was a member of the Atlantic 10 Commissioner's Honor Roll for four years, and was a member of the National Society of Black Engineers at UD.
 
Bradshaw was also the driving force behind Athletes Driving Change. She serves as the president and CEO of the action-based organization she founded, which strives to make everlasting changes toward equality through the work of A-10 student-athletes in women's basketball and other sports. She received Dayton's Social Justice Award at the Athletics Department R.U.D.Y. awards banquet for her work. Bradshaw also worked with youth basketball leagues, volunteered with multiple charitable organizations including Gifts to Give, the Ronald McDonald House and Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. She also was the leader of the Minerva Circle for her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta, leading membership process.
 
A six-time Atlantic 10 Champion and four-time A-10 award honoree, Jordan Olenginski has been a dominant force for Saint Joseph's field hockey. The team captain amassed 63 points on 23 goals and 17 assists in her career, ranking near the top in scoring at SJU and the A-10. That includes five game-winning goals in her four years on Hawk Hill.
 
As good in the classroom as she has been on the field, Olensinski graduated summa cum laude. A member of the A-10 All-Academic team each year she was eligible, Olenginski was also honored with numerous academic achievement awards by Saint Joseph's, including the Student-Athlete Achievers Award, the Catherine Nash award (medical alumni scholarship), and the Class of 1950 Award (distinguished student-athlete award). She was also honored by the NFHCA for academics all four years, and selected to attend the NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Forum in 2020.
 
She volunteered her time through numerous community activities, including coaching field hockey clinics and youth teams, including organizing a clinic for the Wilkes-Barre Special Needs Playground Project. Olenginski founded the SJU chapter of Project Sunshine, which coordinates charitable visits to the pediatric wards of hospitals. She has served as a leader, Teaching Assistant, Counselor and Community Connector to help those around her community with learning, assistance in finding basic resources (food, childcare, employment). A member of the Saint Joseph's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), Olenginski also served as a prom escort for a special needs student as part of the Night to Shine program of the Tim Tebow Foundation.
 
One of the most prestigious NCAA awards, the NCAA established the Woman of the Year Award in 1991 to celebrate the achievements of women in intercollegiate athletics. Now in its 31st year, the NCAA Woman of the Year award honors graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their collegiate careers.