As announced by the NCAA on Tuesday (Aug. 10) afternoon, Ashland University senior sprinter/hurdler
Rachel Miller is the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's honoree for the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year award.
Miller had a stellar 2020-21 season – indoors, outdoors and in the classroom. Graduating in the spring with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.96 as a Public Relations and Strategic Communications major, Miller earned the first two NCAA Division II All-American awards of her career – indoors in the 400-meter dash, outdoors in the 400 hurdles.
Among her other senior-year recognitions are a 2020-21 GLIAC Commissioner's Award, College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District, United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) all-region indoors and outdoors, and GLIAC Women's Track Athlete of the Week on Feb. 23.
The NCAA Woman of the Year program was established in 1991 and honors the academic achievements, athletics excellence, community service and leadership of graduating female college athletes from all three divisions. Miller is one of 535 women nationally to be nominated for the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year award, and is one of 152 conference-level honorees this year.
Conference-level nominations will be forwarded to the NCAA Woman of the Year Selection Committee, which will choose the top 10 honorees in each of the three NCAA divisions. The NCAA will announce the top 30 honorees on NCAA.org in September.
From those 30 candidates, the selection committee determines the top three finalists in each division. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will select the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year from the nine finalists.
The 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced later this fall.
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