Big South Announces 2017-18 Woman of the Year Co-Honorees
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – The Big South Conference announced today that UNC Asheville track & field athlete Kayli Nichols (Raleigh, N.C.) and Winthrop lacrosse player Katherine Judge (Lewes, Del.) have been named the Big South Conference’s co-honorees for Woman of the Year for 2017-18. The conference’s Woman of the Year award is sponsored by Big South Corporate Partner Musco Sports Lighting.
The Big South’s Woman of the Year Selection Committee voted Nichols and Judge the co-honorees among the nine candidates nominated for the award. The Committee used criteria of Service and Leadership (including community services, campus activities and leadership positions), Academic Achievement, Athletics Excellence and a Personal Statement from each candidate. As the Big South’s Woman of the Year, Nichols and Judge are nominated as the conference’s candidates for the national NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
With degrees in German and Political Science and a minor in Spanish, Nichols graduated from UNC Asheville with a GPA of 3.974. During her senior campaign, she was named the Big South Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year as well as the Big South Women’s Indoor Co-Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She departed Asheville as the record holder in three events -- outdoor 100mH, indoor 60mH and indoor 500m. She was also a member of two relay teams (4x400m indoor and outdoor relays) that own the fastest marks in program history. Individually, Nichols is ranked second in the outdoor 400mH as well. During her senior season, Nichols finished runner-up in the women's 100mH with a time of 14.07 at the Big South Outdoor Championships to earn All-Conference honors.
Off the track, she was involved in Asheville’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), Leadership Council, and the German Club, as well as interning this past year for Inclusive Development International where she researched and investigated human right violations and environmental degradation in Africa and Southeast Asia. She also assisted at Belser Law Firm in Asheville. Nichols’ accomplishments include distinction as a University Research Scholar, distinction in the National German and Political Science Honor Societies, membership in Sigma Delta Pi National Spanish Honor Society, a five-time Big South Track & Field All-Academic Team member, and the 2016 UNC Asheville Scholar-Athlete Award recipient. Nichols was also a two-time winner of the UNC Asheville Athletics Bulldogs Award.
Judge concluded her career as a four-time All-Conference honoree -- one of just six players in league history with this achievement, and helped the Eagles win two Big South titles during her time in Rock Hill. She ranks first all-time in conference annals with 421 draw controls and 247 ground balls, and is third with 143 caused turnovers and 81 career matches played. Judge was a standout on both the offensive and defensive sides of the field in 2018, as she finished second on the team with 55 goals, a single-season high for the midfielder. She set a single-season Winthrop and Big South record with 149 draw controls and her 7.45 draws per game ranked her ninth in Division I. Judge also participated in the 2018 IWLCA Senior All-Star Game. A member of the 2017 Big South Women’s Lacrosse All-Academic Team, Judge compiled a 3.73 grade point average while majoring in social work with a minor in family and consumer science, and will attend Penn for graduate school.
During her Winthrop career, Judge volunteered at local elementary schools, food banks, Girls on the Run, and the San Diego Children’s Hospital, participated in causes such as the Light the Night Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Walk as well as the Hydrocephalus Walk, assisted with the Pebbles Youth Startup Lacrosse Club and interned at the Iswa Head Start Program where she worked with social workers at the agency to serve children ages 3-5 and their families. Judge earned Winthrop President’s List and Dean’s List honors three times each, and was named to the 2017 IWLCA Academic Honor Roll. She was named the recipient of the inaugural Golden Eagle Award in 2018, which is awarded to an exemplary student-athlete leader, a teammate to always count on and who encourages others, and the type of student-athlete who represents all good things about Winthrop Athletics.
Also nominated for the Big South and NCAA Woman of the Year award were Campbell track & field athlete Sabina Allen and lacrosse player Mackenzie Koeller, High Point volleyball player Haley Barnes, Liberty tennis player Evangeline Crist and basketball player Sheana Vega, Presbyterian basketball player Janie Miles, and UNC Asheville soccer player Caroline Houser.
The NCAA Woman of the Year Selection Committee will determine the top 10 honorees in each division by considering specific guidelines based on the four pillars of the award: academics, athletics, service and leadership. From among those 30 candidates, the selection committee will determine the top three in each division. Finally, the members of the Committee on Women’s Athletics will vote from among the top nine finalists to determine the 2018 NCAA Woman of the Year.
Nichols and Judge are among 581 overall nominees for NCAA Woman of the Year, which is now in its 28th year. All school and conference honorees receive an NCAA certificate and will be recognized on www.ncaa.org. The top 10 honorees from Divisions I, II and III, including the nine overall finalists, will be honored, with the 2018 NCAA Woman of the Year winner announced at a dinner Oct. 28, 2018 in Indianapolis. The Big South had its first national finalist in 2005 when Big South Hall of Famer Janiva Willis of Winthrop was named one of the 10 finalists.