Leon Named ACC Nominee for NCAA Woman of the Year Award

GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – The Atlantic Coast Conference announced today that University of Louisville's Gabriela Leon, along with Jaeda Daniel (NC State tennis) are the conference nominees for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year Award.

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.

From the group of conference nominees, the top 10 will now be chosen from each NCAA division. The selection committee then will determine the top three honorees from each division from the Top 30 and announce the nine finalists. From those nine finalists, the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics then will choose the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year.

Leon recently completed an outstanding collegiate career in track and field, highlighted by a banner 2022 outdoor season. The Grand Rapids, Michigan, native became the program's first women's track and field outdoor national champion when she cleared 4.60m (15' 1") to win the pole vault at the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Leon became the fourth-ever collegiate women's pole vaulter with three clearances of 4.60m (15' 1") and the only one this season with three over 4.57m (15' 0") in collegiate competition.

Additionally, Leon captured her second straight ACC women's outdoor pole vault title and was named the USTFCCCA Southeast Region Outdoor Women's Field Athlete of the Year, the ACC Women's Outdoor Field Performer of the Year as well as the league's Outdoor Track and Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Leon was named ACC Women's Field Performer of the Week three times in 2022 and recorded a first-place finish in seven of eight outdoor meets including seven straight wins since the season opener. She set the outdoor school record of 4.61m (15' 1") at the Clark Wood Invitational.

An ACC Postgraduate Scholarship recipient and a five-time Louisville Dean's Scholar, Leon graduated from Louisville with a degree in Exercise Science and a career GPA of 3.83. She earned a 4.0 GPA in both the fall and spring semesters of the most recent academic year and was named to the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team. Leon is also a 2022 Arthur Ashe Jr. Sport Scholar of the Year recipient by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education.

Leon's impressive community service resume features extensive work with Louisville youth, including mentoring children at Norton Hospital events, the Read Across America program, volunteering with the Parkland Boys and Girls Club, and letter-writing campaigns such as Valentine's Letters for St. Jude and Blessings in a Backpack.

Leon and Daniel emerged as the ACC's 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year candidates following a vote of the league's member schools. The strong list of nominees from member institutions also included:

Boston College: Amaka Chukwujekwu (Volleyball)
Boston College: Charlotte North (Lacrosse)
Georgia Tech: Nicole Fegans (Cross Country/Track & Field)
Louisville: Tori Dilfer, Louisville (Volleyball)
Miami: Debbie Ajagbe (Track and Field)
Miami: Eden Holly Richardson (Tennis)
North Carolina: Rachel Jones (Soccer)
North Carolina: Ally Mastroianni (Lacrosse)
NC State: Brandi Hughes (Track & Field)
Notre Dame: Sammi Fisher (Soccer)
Syracuse: Meghan Root (Soccer)

About the NCAA Woman of the Year Award
For the first time in the award's history, the Top 30 honorees will be celebrated and the Woman of the Year named at the NCAA Convention. The 2023 Convention will take place in January in San Antonio.

To learn more about the award program and previous winners, visit ncaa.org/woty.

ACC member institutions claim three past NCAA Women of the Year honorees. Former Notre Dame soccer standout Elizabeth Tucker was named the 2014 NCAA Woman of the Year. Wake Forest's Annie Bersagel (cross county/track &field) was recognized in 2006, and Virginia's Peggy Boutilier (field hockey/lacrosse) received the honor in 1998.

Of the 577 initial nominees for this year's honor, 248 were from NCAA Division I schools, 127 from NCAA Division II and 202 from NCAA Division III.

The group featured 125 multisport student-athletes, including 78 two-sport student-athletes, 46 three-sport student-athletes and one four-sport student-athlete. The average GPA of the nominee pool is 3.8.

Released in conjunction with the Atlantic Coast Conference

University of Louisville Athletics

Leon Named ACC Nominee for NCAA Woman of the Year Award

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