Christy Cazzola, a senior from University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, repeats as the 2014 DIII Woman of the Year nominee for track & field, as announced by Executive Director Chris Voelz of The Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA) presented by Honda.
She is again designated one of 11 finalists for the prestigious DIII Woman Athlete of the Year honor. This will be voted on at the end of the academic year by national balloting among 1,000 NCAA member schools as part of The CWSA program, now in its 38th year.
Cazzola, last season's Woman of the Year nominee for track & field, was named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year for the second straight season. She is the first female to collect the honor twice. Cazzola also repeated as the Outstanding Track Performer at the NCAA Division III Championship. A 28-year-old mother of two children is a three-time Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Outdoor Championship Performer of the Meet.
The Kaukauna, Wis., native capped her record-breaking career with three titles at the 2014 NCAA Division III Outdoor Championship. She finished her career with a total of 16 national titles – eight indoor and eight outdoor. In 2012, Cazzola won the individual title at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championship. Her career numbers also include 27 WIAC titles – 12 indoor, 12 outdoor and three cross country.
"Christy's story is truly an amazing one,” said University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh head track & field coach Ben Dorsey. “She is proof that hard work and dedication can trump anything life has to throw at you.“
All sports nominees from DIII and DII become a finalist for the prestigious 2014 CWSA Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year in their respective divisions, presented in June. The sports nominees are recognized in 11 DIII and DII NCAA-sanctioned sports; cross country, basketball, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, volleyball, and track & field.
The Collegiate Women Sports Awards has honored the nation’s top NCAA women athletes for 37 years, recognizing superior athletic skills, leadership, academic excellence and eagerness to participate in community service. Since commencing its sponsorship in 1986, Honda has provided more than $2.8 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees to support women’s athletics programs at the institutions.