Chatham University's Amy Kuuskoski Nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year Award

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Recent Chatham University graduate Amy Kusskoski (Wilmington, N.C./Homeschool) has been nominated by the Cougars' Department of Athletics for the 2009 NCAA Woman of the Year award.

The NCAA Woman of the Year Award honors senior student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership.

A standout swimmer and water polo player for Chatham, Kusskoski helped the Cougars to a 3-10 record and seventh place finish in the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Western Division this year with eight goals, including a three-goal performance in an 11-8 victory over PSU-Behrend on March 21 for the program's first win.

One of 415 nominees for the Woman of the Year award from NCAA Divisions I, II and III, she earned Chatham's Most Valuable Athlete in swimming as she capped a memorable career by earning titles at both the Chatham University and Agnes Scott Invitational, as well as Second Team All-Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) honors this year.  In addition, Kuuskoski was named to the PAC Academic Honor Roll, to go along with National Swim Coaches All-Academic honors. She leaves Chatham with nine school records.

“One of the hardest working and most dedicated athletes I have ever been associated with,” noted head coach Michael Meyers said. “Amy had 100% attendance and gave 100% effort at practice for her entire career, and it paid off as she rewrote our record board.”

A Business Marketing major with a minor in Professional Writing, she received a 2007 Vira I. Heinz Scholarship through the University of Pittsburgh Study Abroad office, traveling to Stuttgart, Germany, for a five week study abroad program. She studied German language through the Anglo-German Institute focusing on the programming area of arts and culture.

The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics (CWA) manages the NCAA Woman of the Year nomination process and selections. In the past three years, 383 student-athletes were nominated by their conference or independent institutions, representing multiple ethnicities and all NCAA-sponsored sports within Divisions I, II and III. In 2008, alone 438 student-athletes were nominated by their institutions. From 1998 through 2005, an average of 345 female student-athletes per year were nominated for the award; and since the program inception in 1991, 1145 women have been recognized as state or conference honorees.

Student-athletes were nominated by a member of their institution's department of athletic completing and submitting an online nomination form process to their conference office with which the nominee’s primary sport is affiliated not later than May 15, 2009, or an earlier deadline established by the conference office. 

Upon receiving nominations from its member institutions, each conference is responsible for assessing each nominee’s eligibility and subsequently selecting a conference nominee based on collective achievements in service, leadership, athletics and academics.

Each conference office submitted its nominee(s) to the national office via a Web-based form by June 26, 2009. All conference nominees are forwarded to the Woman of the Year selection committee which selects the top 10 honorees in each division. From among those 30 candidates, the selection committee determines the top three in each division. Finally, the members of the CWA vote from among the top nine finalists to determine the 2009 NCAA Woman of the Year.

The top 10 honorees and the nine finalists from Divisions I, II and III will be honored and the 2009 NCAA Woman of the Year winner announced at a dinner in Indianapolis October 18, 2009.

In order to be eligible for the award, female student-athletes must have completed intercollegiate eligibility in her primary sport by the end of the 2009 spring season, graduated no later than the end of the summer 2009 term, and achieved a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 2.5.