A total of 148 student-athletes chose by NCAA conferences and a selection committee will advance as nominees for the 2019 NCAA Woman of the Year award, including two Big West representatives in Cal State Fullerton’s Patricia Parks and CSUN’s Lindsay Kutscher.

The women were selected from a pool of 585 school nominees.

The nominees represent college athletes from 20 sports spanning all three NCAA divisions. Of the nominees, 64 competed in Division I, 33 competed in Division II and 51 competed in Division III.

Parks, a fifth-year senior, is a pitcher on the Cal State Fullerton softball team. In 2018, Parks earned All-Big West Second Team accolades after finishing 9-0 in conference play and helping the Titans to the Big West title.

She graduated Cum Laude with a degree in Sociology in 2018 and is currently enrolled in the Master of Social Work program at CSF with a cumulative 4.0 GPA.

Parks currently works with children of all ages K-12 at her internship with the West Covina Unified School District, providing them with individual or group counseling. The Chino Hills, Calif., native plans to become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in addition to obtaining her Ph.D. in Social Work.

Parks, a 2019 Big West Scholar-Athlete of the Year, missed this past season due to injury but had an enormous impact on the team’s success in 2018 when she finished 12-3 with a 2.45 ERA.

Kutscher completed her senior year at CSUN as a starting defender on the women’s soccer team. Kutscher started every single match for the third straight season and played every single minute on the Matador backline for the year.

Named to the All-Big West Second Team, Kutscher finished with a goal and an assist for the season. She helped CSUN post three shutouts.

A four-time Big West All-Academic Team honoree, she was selected a Big West Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The biology major is currently volunteering at USC Keck Medical Center in the Anesthesia Tech Unit while also conducting research with the CSUN Faculty Athletic Representative on Health Disparities. She has twice attended the American Association for Cancer Research and has presented on the topic of breast cancer at the American Society for Cell Biology Conference.

The Temecula, Calif., native plans to attend medical school to become a doctor.

The Top 30 honorees, comprising 10 women from each division, will be named by the Woman of the Year selection committee in September. The selection committee will then narrow the pool to nine finalists – with three from each division – in early October. From those finalists, the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics will select the 2019 Woman of the Year.

The 2019 Woman of the Year will be named, and the Top 30 honorees will be celebrated, at the annual banquet Oct. 20 in Indianapolis.

The NCAA Woman of the Year program has recognized graduating female student-athletes for excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership since its inception in 1991.