Sept. 12, 2003
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -
Susan Churchwell, a two-time All-American softball
player at UC Davis, has been selected as the California state winner for
the NCAA Woman of the Year Award, it was announced by the NCAA on Friday.
Churchwell, a native of Lake Forest, Calif., is the third consecutive
Aggie student-athlete to be named a state winner for the award. Furthermore,
she is the fourth Aggie in five years and fifth in the last seven years
to earn such distinction.
The NCAA Woman of the Year Award honors outstanding female student-athletes
who have excelled in academics, athletics and community leadership.
Two UC Davis student-athletes have won the NCAA Woman of the Year award.
Track and field All-American Jamila Demby was the first to capture the national
award, followed by teammate Tanisha Silas in 2002. Kameelah Elarms, yet
another track All-American and teammate of Silas and Demby, was one of the
10 finalists for the award in 2001. Former soccer standout Kim Haskell was
the first Aggie to be selected as a state winner, garnering such honors
in 1997.
A total of 340 student-athletes were nominated for this year's award.
One woman from each state plus the District of Columbia are named state
winners for a total of 50 (New Mexico did not nominate). From that group,
the NCAA selects 10 finalsts in late September.
Churchwell, who last spring helped lead UC Davis to its first-ever NCAA
softball championship, finished her four-year career owning or sharing six
school records. She earned two National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-America
and three All-West Region awards in her career. As a sophomore in 2001,
Churchwell led the nation with a 0.21 earned-run average.
Furthermore, she ranks among the school's career and season top 10 lists
in 24 different offensive and pitching categories. Churchwell also garnered
Most Oustanding Player and all-tournament honors at the NCAA D-II Championships.
In the classroom, Churchwell graduated with a 3.888 cumulative grade-point
average in economics. She twice garnered Verizon Academic All-America honors
and in 2002 won her university's W.P. Lindley Award as the school's outstanding
scholar-athlete. Churchwell also earned a Citation of Excellence from the
UC Davis Department of Economics and was a member of the Golden Key Honor
Society and Phi Beta Kappa. Last spring, the California Collegiate Athletic
Association selected her as Scholar-Athlete of the Year for all of its 13
sports.
Churchwell was active in the community as a member of the Student-Athlete
Advisory Committee, participating in that organization's annual drive to
collect food, clothes and other goods for the Sexual Assault & Domestic
Violence Center. She also volunteered for the Northern California Special
Olympics and St. Martin's Episcopal Church.
The 2003 NCAA Woman of the Year awards dinner is hosted at the Westin
Indianapolis Hotel in Indianapolis, Ind., on Nov. 1.
