Chelsea Methot Tabbed as ECC Nominee for NCAA Woman of the Year

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - This month, Mercy College standout softball senior Chelsea Methot (Bristol, Conn.) was chosen as the East Coast Conference’s nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year competition. She was named the Mercy College Woman of the Year after her monster senior season.

Methot, who was an ECC All-Conference First Team and NFCA All-East Region selection, guided the Mavericks to their highest win total since 1987 last season. She led Mercy in nearly every single offensive category. She finished among the Division II national leaders in home runs, batting average and on-base percentage. Off the field, the Bristol native was an Honor Society member and harbored a 3.58 grade point average.

More than 140 NCAA female student-athletes representing numerous sports across Divisions I, II and III have been selected as 2011 Woman of the Year nominees by their athletic conference and independent institutions. The Woman of the Year competition is in its 21st year and honors female student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in academic achievement, athletic excellence, community service and leadership.

This year there was a record 471 nominations for the competition – 19 more than 2009-10. Every NCAA member institution is encouraged to honor its top graduating female student-athlete by submitting her name for consideration.  Each conference assesses the eligibility of its members’ nominees and selects at least one student-athlete to represent the conference.   To be eligible for the award, a female student-athlete must have completed intercollegiate eligibility in her primary sport by the end of the 2011 spring season, graduated no later than the end of the summer 2011 term and achieved a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 2.5.

With the 142 conference nominees selected, a committee composed of representatives from NCAA member schools and athletic conferences will select 10 nominees from each of the three divisions to compose the Top 30 nominees, who will be announced in late August.  The selection committee will then narrow the Top 30 to three finalists from each division to form the Top Nine, which will be announced in early September.  From the Top Nine finalists, the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics will select the national winner.  

The 2011 NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced during the Woman of the Year dinner in Indianapolis on Sunday, October 16.