Ohio Wesleyan University senior Cirrus Robinson (Ashland) has advanced to the conference-level phase of the selection process for the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year Award, it was announced today by the NCAA.
A total of 161 student-athletes moved forward in the process, including 63 from NCAA Division III, 59 from Division I, and 39 from Division II. The NCAA 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.
Robinson is a 4-time NCAA Division III champion and a 6-time All-America honoree in the high jump. She won 9 North Coast Athletic Conference championships (6 in the high jump, 2 in the 400-meter dash, and one in the 200-meter dash), and is a 10-time All-NCAC selection. Robinson won 6 All-Ohio titles and 7 All-Ohio citations in the high jump. She received Ohio Wesleyan's Nan Carney-DeBord Award recognizing the best senior female student-athlete and was an OWU Top 10 selection, recognizing impact on family, team, OWU, and the community. She was a second-team Academic All-America® selection by the College Sports Information Directors of America, won Ohio Wesleyan's Patricia G. Young Award for Leadership in Service to Children and Youth, and served as chair of the education department's student governing board. Robinson majored in early childhood education.
Rooted in Title IX, the NCAA Woman of the Year Award was established in 1991 to recognize graduating female student-athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service, and leadership throughout their collegiate careers.
Member schools are encouraged to honor their top graduating female college athletes each year by submitting their names for consideration for the Woman of the Year Award. Schools can recognize 2 nominees if at least one is a woman of color or international student-athlete.
Conference offices will select up to two nominees each from their pool of member school nominees. All nominees who compete in a sport not sponsored by their school's primary conference, as well as associate conference nominees and independent nominees, will be considered by a selection committee. Then, the Woman of the Year selection committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will choose the Top 30 honorees — 10 from each division. From the Top 30, the Woman of the Year selection committee will determine the top 3 honorees in each division and announce nine finalists. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics then will choose the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year, who will be named this fall.
NCAA member schools nominated a record 605 female college athletes for the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year Award. The nominees represent all 3 NCAA divisions, including 259 nominees from Division I, 126 from Division II and 220 from Division III. Nominees competed in 24 sports, with multi-sport student-athletes accounting for 128 of the nominees.
