A total of 161 college athletes have been named conference-level nominees for the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year Award, including Big West water polo representatives Tori Wilson of CSUN and Tara Prentice of UC Irvine.
The women were selected from a program-record pool of 605 school nominees.
The nominees represent student-athletes from 21 different sports spanning all three NCAA divisions. Of those nominated, 59 nominees competed in Division 1, 39 in Division II and 63 in Division III.
The NCAA Woman of the Year program is rooted in Title IX and has recognized graduating female college athletes for excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership since its inception in 1991.
Conferences can recognize two nominees if at least one is a woman of color or international student-athlete.
Wilson, a summa cum laude graduate in psychology, was CSUN’s designee as the 2019 Big West Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The native of Canada earned a spot on the Dean’s List in each of her two years at CSUN.
Her performance in the pool included a team-leading 32 goals and 35 steals during the shortened 2020 season. Wilson’s campaign concluded with her selection as an ACWPC Honorable Mention All-American. She also earned All-Big West Second Team in honors in 2019 after scoring a team-best 63 goals.
In the classroom and community, Wilson served as a research assistant, an intern for Helping Hands Senior Foundation and a volunteer water polo coach at KW Kraken Water Polo.
Prentice was UC Irvine’s choice as its 2019 Big West Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the recipient of the 2020 UCI Chancellor Award of Distinction.
A three-time ACWPC All-American, Prentice collected first team accolades in 2020. She played an impactful role on the 2018 Big West Tournament championship squad and the 2019 team which shared the conference regular season title.
Her competitive accomplishments also include a roster spot on the 2019 World University USA Water Polo Team which competed in Napoli, Italy. Prentice’s work in the community included support for Special Olympics Southern California, Bonita Canyon Elementary and the Newport Beach Soup Kitchen.
BIG WEST NOMINEES FOR NCAA WOMAN OF THE YEAR
| Name |
Institution |
Sport |
| Tara Prentice |
UC Irvine |
Water Polo |
| Tori Wilson |
CSUN |
Water Polo |
The Woman of the Year Selection Committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will now choose the Top 30 honorees – 10 from each division – from the conference-level nominees. The Top 30 honorees will be announced in September.
From there, the selection committee will narrow the pool to three finalists from each division. The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics will select the 2020 Woman of the Year from the nine finalists.
The Top 30 honorees will be celebrated and the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year will be named this fall.