Recent Ohio Wesleyan University graduate Veronica Hardman (Blenheim, New Zealand/Ravenswood) will represent Ohio Wesleyan and the North Coast Athletic Conference in the fields for the 2023 NCAA Woman of the Year award and the Division III Commissioners Association (D3CA) Women's Sport Student-Athlete of the Year honors, it was announced by the NCAC.
Hardman, a member of the Battling Bishop field hockey and women's track & field teams, won all-conference recognition in both sports. During the 2022 field hockey season, Hardman was a first-team all-region selection, scored the game-winning goal in the NCAC tournament championship game and was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, was a first-team All-NCAC pick, and went on to receive second-team All-America recognition by Synapse Sports. Hardman was a second-team All-NCAC selection in 2021 and an honorable mention All-NCAC pick in 2019. She helped the Battling Bishops share the NCAC championship in 2019, win their first NCAC tournament title and record their first-ever NCAA Division III tournament win in 2021, and repeat as NCAC tournament champion in 2022. In track & field, Hardman won all-conference laurels with a third-place finish in the long jump at the 2023 NCAC indoor championship and placed 3 other times at conference championships, including a fifth-place finish in the triple jump and a seventh-place showing in the long jump at the 2023 NCAC outdoor meet.
She received Ohio Wesleyan's Presidential Award, recognizing the University's top athlete and person. The top honor awarded by the Ohio Wesleyan athletics department, the Presidential Award is based on athletics ability and achievement, academic excellence, character, leadership, activities, and inspiration. She also was a Top Ten honoree, an honor voted upon by the Ohio Wesleyan Athletics Council and is based upon the student-athlete's impact upon their family, their team, the University, and the Delaware community, and a OWU Top 50 awardee, recognizing the top 50 cumulative grade-point averages among student-athletes. Hardman also received Ohio Wesleyan's Nan Carney-DeBord Award, recognizing the top female senior student-athlete, and Ohio Wesleyan's Mackenzie Conway Sportsmanship Award.
Hardman received Academic All-District® laurels by the College Sports Communicators in both sports, was a 2-time NCAC Academic Honor Roll honoree, and was named Ohio Wesleyan's NCAC Scholar-Athlete Award winner. She received the Harriet Stewart Award from Ohio Wesleyan's health and human kinetics department and was inducted into Chi Alpha Sigma and Psi Chi honoraries.
Most recently, Hardman won the NCAC's Pam Smith Award for 2023, becoming Ohio Wesleyan's first winner of that honor since 2010.
Off the field, Hardman volunteered her time in the community with the Common Ground Free Store and with FEED Delaware. On campus, she served as an orientation leader for new international student orientation and participated in Kappa Alpha Theta. She served as the Kappa Alpha Theta vice president of external affairs in 2021-22 and was responsible for organizing service events for members along with 2 philanthropy events that raised money for Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA). She also served as a team leader during the 2022 Make a Difference Day, coordinating a team to help members of the community with tasks around their homes. Hardman was a member of the health and human kinetics department student governing board, where she helped advise students on which classes to take for a timely graduation, while providing evaluations of professors and coming up with ways to increase the presence of the department on campus.
The NCAA Woman of the Year award and Division III Commissioners Association Women's Sport Student-Athlete of the Year award honor graduating student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service, and leadership.
From the record-breaking 619 female student-athletes nominated by their schools for the 2023 NCAA Woman of the Year Award, the Woman of the Year Selection Committee will name the top 10 women from each division. From the 30 honorees, the committee will then select and announce 9 finalists, 3 from each NCAA division. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will review the finalists and name the 2023 NCAA Woman of the Year. The national Top 30 honorees and 9 finalists will be announced this fall, while the 2023 NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced at the 2024 NCAA Convention in Phoenix. 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.
The initial round of voting for the D3CA award will be conducted by commissioners within each of the 10 regions, with the top male and female honoree (including ties) earning Regional Student-Athletes of the Year honors. Those regional winners will be recognized as finalists for the Awards Committee to select the Division III Commissioner's Association Men's Sport and Women's Sport Student-Athlete of the Year. This will be the second year that the D3CA will recognize graduating male and female student-athletes for academic achievement, athletics excellence, and service and leadership.
