WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Recent West Chester University graduate,
Juah Toe (York, Pa./Central York), was named a conference winner in the NCAA Woman of the Year Award process and is one of 160 student-athletes across all three levels of intercollegiate athletics to be considered for the 2020 honor.
From a program-record pool of 605 school nominees, 160 college athletes have been named conference-level nominees for the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
The nominees represent student-athletes from 21 different sports spanning all three NCAA divisions. Of those nominated, 58 nominees competed in Division I, 39 in Division II and 63 in Division III.
The NCAA Woman of the Year program is rooted in Title IX and has recognized graduating female college athletes for excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership since its inception in 1991.
Toe, the lone women's rugby nominee among the 160, becomes the third West Chester University nominee in the last four years. A year ago, former field hockey star, Kaitlin Hatch, made the Top 30 semifinalists list and was invited to the banquet that recognized the NCAA Woman of the Year. She is the only former Golden Rams student-athlete to advance that far in the process.
Toe helped West Chester to an undefeated 11-0 fall campaign during the Rugby 15's season. The Golden Rams capped off their memorable moment with a national championship in the National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) Tier II.
Her community service and volunteer engagements read like a veritable who's who list of accomplishments throughout her college career. Everything from trips to South Africa, to secretary of the Abbe Society, to Vice-President of Omicron Delta Kappa, to involvement in the school's Honors College and a member of the selection committee for the West Chester University 1871 Award kept her daily scheduled packed from sunup to sundown.
Conferences can recognize two nominees if at least one is a woman of color or international student-athlete. All nominees who compete in a sport not sponsored by their school's primary conference, as well as associate conference nominees and independent nominees, were placed in a separate pool to be considered by a selection committee. Four nominees from the pool were selected to move forward in the process with the conference nominees.
The Woman of the Year Selection Committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will now choose the Top 30 honorees — 10 from each division — from the conference-level nominees. The Top 30 honorees will be announced in September. From there, the selection committee will narrow the pool to three finalists from each division. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will select the 2020 Woman of the Year from the nine finalists.
The Top 30 honorees will be celebrated and the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year will be named this fall.
