The Big West celebrates 10 school nominees for 2023 NCAA Woman of the Year. Including multi-sport student-athletes, seven current conference-sponsored sports are represented, with the future sport of swimming also in the mix. Eight Big West member-institutions have at least one woman in the program record pool of 619 nominees from schools across all three NCAA divisions. 

The Big West institutional nominees for 2023 NCAA Woman of the Year are:

• Bobbi Aguirre, UC San Diego softball
• Hannah Chau, UC Irvine cross country/track and field
• Minami Creamer, Cal State Fullerton volleyball & water polo
• Shannon Haddad, Long Beach State softball
• Lacey Hall, CSUN water polo
• Hayley McCluskey, Cal State Bakersfield beach & indoor volleyball
• Evann Smith, UC Santa Barbara soccer
• Taylor Thames, CSUN soccer
• Laticia Transom, Hawai'i swimming
• Emma Van Rossum, Hawai'i water polo

In its 33rd year of the NCAA Woman of the Year program, there are 264 Division I women dotting the list. The average grade-point average of the nominee pool is an impressive 3.76. This year's nominees represent a diverse set of well-rounded student-athletes, who compete in 24 different sports across the three divisions. Not only is academics a vital pillar of the Woman of the Year award, candidates are also high achievers in their respective sport as well as through service and leadership.

Next, conferences will select up to two nominees each from their pool of nominees, if at least one of the nominees is a woman of color or international student-athlete. The Woman of the Year selection committee will then choose 10 women from each division to make up the Top 30 to be announced in October. The selection committee will determine the top three honorees in each division announced in November, and the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics will determine the 2023 NCAA Woman of the Year. The Woman of the Year will be celebrated at the 2024 NCAA Convention in January.

The NCAA Woman of the Year program was established in 1991 and honors the academic achievements, athletics excellence, community service and leadership of graduating female college athletes from all three divisions. To be eligible, a nominee must have competed and earned a varsity letter in an NCAA-sponsored sport and must have earned her undergraduate degree by Summer 2023.

Bobbi Aguirre

UC San Diego softball

Graduated from UCSD with a degrees in 
human biology and psychology

UC San Diego SAAC member for four years,
including two as Executive Board President

Three-year member and two-year leader with FCA

Two-Time Big West All-Academic Team member

2023 UC San Diego Outstanding Senior Scholar-Athlete Award

Hannah Chau

UC Irvine cross country and track & field

Graduated from UC Irvine with a bachelor's degree in public health science
and a master's in demographic and social analysis

UC Irvine Basic Needs Graduate CalFresh Advocate,
empowering over 200 low-income students to apply for CalFresh
and serving over 1,000 students at the UCI Basic Needs Food Pantry

Four-year captain of the cross country & track and field team

UCI SAAC co-president and member

Member of the UCI Chancellor Intercollegiate Athletics Advisory Committee

Big West Service & Leadership Award Winner (2022)

Four-time All-Big West Track & Field athlete  (10K, steeplechase);
three-time All-Big West Cross Country performer

Minami Creamer

Cal State Fullerton volleyball & water polo

Graduated from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in criminal justice in three years;
holding a 3.90 undergraduate GPA while competing in two sports

Member of the inaugural Cal State Fullerton women's water polo team in 2023
as well as competing for the Titans' volleyball squad

Three-time Big West All-Academic Team member and Commissioner's Honor Roll
selection as well as Cal State Fullerton Dean's List for every eligible semester (5)

Intern with the Fullerton police department's investigation team in 2023, 
with professional aspirations of one day becoming a detective

Shannon Haddad

Long Beach State softball

Graduating from Long Beach State with a degree 
in psychology and a minor in human resources management

Helped the Beach to the 2023 Big West championship title and
earned All-Big West first team honors in the process 

Finished with a 13-10 record and 2.10 ERA with 109 strikeouts in 2023

2021 Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year

Took on a leadership role with Student Orientation Advising Registration (SOAR)
in 2023, leading interactive workshops for first-semester students as well as 
workshops centered on DEI for first-generation college students

Lacey Hall

CSUN water polo

Graduated with a double major in business administration, management 
and honors in business from CSUN with a 4.0 GPA

Three-time CSUN Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year (2022, '21, ’22)

Earned multiple scholarships and academic awards while a Matador, including
the CSUN Nazarian College of Business and Economics Dean's Scholar
and Wlfson Scholar Award nominee in 2023, the highest honor a senior can achieve at CSUN

Co-president of CSUN SAAC, vice president of The Hidden Opponent at CSUN 
and 2022 NCAA Career in Sports Forum participant

Haley McCluskey

Cal State Bakersfield 
volleyball & beach volleyball

Earned bachelor's degree in communications with a concentration in 
public relations with a minor in business administration in 2022
and went on to get a master's in business administration in 2023 from Cal State Bakersfield

Named CSUB Athletics' 2023 President's Award winner, given to the top overall student-athlete

Compiled over 158 total hours of community service as a team leader,
serving multiple organizations and initiatives such as Running with Angels, 
Mother's Against Drunk Driving, MARE, and Old River Elementary School Reading Day

Played final two seasons of collegiate volleyball without her mother, 
who succumbed to brain cancer at 60 years old;
showed resilience, strength, loyalty, hard work, and grit 
choosing to find the light and be a light even in the midst of darkness

Evann Smith

UC Santa Barbara soccer

Earned bachelor's degree in economics and accounting
with a minor in history at UC Santa Barbara

Two-time Big West Service & Leadership Award recipient

2023 UCSB SAAC co-chair and Big West SAAC participant

Attended the NCAA Stdednt-Athlete Leadership Development program in the fall of 2021 

Led campus DEI efforts as the committee co-chair and served as co-chair of
Big West Undivided; coordinated 8.46 mile run for George Floyd and led fundraising efforts 
for Black Lives Matter that raised $80,000 with participation from over 200 schools

Taylor Thames

CSUN soccer

Earned degree in Africana studies at CSUN, 
compiling an undergraduate GPA of 3.91

Tied school record for saves in a single game in 2022, 
first set in the Matadors' inaugural season in 1995

Big West Service and Leadership Award winner (2022)

Advocate of the demand for a greater understanding and consideration 
for the interconnectedness of diversity, equity and tangible long-lasting change, 
and both the community and institutional levels of society

Served in multiple leadership roles within CSUN's SAAC, including as president in 2022-23, 
represented CSUN on The Big West SAAC and Big West Undivided committees, 
and cofounded CSUN's first student and faculty ran DEI board called Matadors United

Laticia Transom

Hawai'i swimming

Earned bachelor's degree in psychology 
with a minor in social work and juvenile justice at Hawai'i

Highly-decorated swimmer, including three individual championships 
and three individual conference records in 2023 while swimming for UH 
in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF); also earned four 
MPSF relay championships, three in record time, and MPSF women's swimming team championship

MPSF Swimmer of the Year (2023) and finished seventh in the 100 free at the NCAA Championship

Diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), 
and has been empowered to share the journey with fellow 
student-athletes to raise awareness about the condition

Inspired to chase the Olympic dream during collegiate career at USC and UH

Emma Van Rossum

Hawai'i water polo

Earned bachelor's degrees in information and computer sciences and 
psychology at Hawai'i, compiling an undergraduate GPA of 3.93

Female recipient of the Jack Bonham Awards, UH’s highest student-athlete honor (2023)

Rainbow Wahine team leader and captain for four seasons

Twice named to the All-Big West second team (2021, ’23) and earned
Big West Championship MVP in 2021 after leading the Rainbow Wahine to victory