Two Canes Nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Two outgoing University of Miami student-athletes have been officially tabbed as candidates for 2018 NCAA Woman of the Year, as announced Thursday by the NCAA.
Three-time CSCAA Honorable Mention All-American diver Wally Layland and two-time ITA All-American tennis player Sinead Lohan are among the record 581 nominees, 251 come from Division I.
Established in 1991 and now in its 28th year, the NCAA Woman of the Year award recognizes graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their college careers.
Layland competed at the NCAA Championships in each of her collegiate seasons, capping her tenure with a top-16 finish in the 1-meter springboard in 2018. The Orlando, Fla., native earned two of her four ACC Championships silver medals in 2016, when she garnered Most Valuable Female Diver distinction.
A four-time CSCAA Scholar All-American and two-time All-ACC Academic Team honoree, Layland spent four years on the Miami Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. One of 38 swimming & diving representatives on the NCAA Woman of the Year nominee list, Layland is a member of the elite Iron Arrow Society and graduated from Miami with a degree in marketing.
One of three four-time All-ACC performers in program history, Lohan finished fourth on Miami’s all-time singles wins list with a staggering 130-35 record. She is one of four Hurricanes to earn three ITA top-25 finishes, including placing sixth in 2015-16 when she reached the NCAA Singles Championship Final Four.
Lohan, a native of Waterford, Ireland, was a three-time All-ACC Academic Team selection and won the 2018 ITA Southeast Region Arthur Ashe Leadership & Sportsmanship Award. One of just 27 tennis players nominated for NCAA Woman of Year, Lohan was a four-year member of Miami’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and earned a degree in economics.
Conferences now will select up to two nominees each from the pool of school nominees, which is available HERE. 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 selection committee determines the top three honorees from each division and announces the nine finalists in September. The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics then chooses the 2018 NCAA Woman of the Year from those nine.
The Top 30 honorees will be celebrated and the 2018 NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced at the annual award ceremony Oct. 28 in Indianapolis. Former Miami Diver Kara McCormack was one of nine finalists in 2016.
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