Lauren Chamberlain of Oklahoma, Florida’s Lauren Haeger, Cheridan Hawkins from Oregon and Sierra Romero of Michigan are the four nominees for the Honda Sports Award for softball as announced by Chris Voelz, Executive Director of THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA) today.
The Honda Sports Award is presented annually by the CWSA to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA- sanctioned sports and signifies “the best of the best in collegiate athletics”. The winner of the sport award becomes a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the prestigious 2015 Honda Cup. The nominees were chosen by a group of experts representing the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA).
The Honda Sports award winner for softball will be announced next week after voting by administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools. Each NCAA member institution has a vote.
Honda Sports award winners will be presented with the honor during on-campus presentations throughout the year and all Honda Sports award winners become a finalist for the prestigious 2015 Honda Cup award which will be presented on June 29, in a live televised broadcast on CBS Sports Network from L.A.
Chamberlain, a senior first baseman from Trabuco Canyon, Calif., is a three-time National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Americana and a three-time All-Big 12 first-team honoree. She is the NCAA all-time home run record holder with 95 and the NCAA all-time leader in career slugging percentage at .960. She finished the season ranked second nationally in two offensive categories and was a 2013 Honda Award nominee for softball.
Hailing from Peoria, Ariz., Haeger was recently named the USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year and earned the win in the 2015 NCAA Championship game. The senior pitcher is a two-time NFCA first-team All-American and was twice named to the All-SEC first-team. She is the 2015 SEC Player of the Year and holds the SEC record for career home runs (67) and the school record for career RBIs (253). Her 1.24 ERA ranks fifth nationally.
Cheridan, a Honda award nominee in 2014, is a two-time NFCA first-team All-American and was a top three finalist for the USA Softball Player of the Year award. A native of Anderson, Calif., the junior was named the Pac-12 Pitcher as the Year for the second straight season and is a three-time first-team All Pac-12 honoree. She ranks fourth nationally in hits allowed per seven innings (3.42) and posted a 1.64 ERA this season.
Romero, a junior shortstop from Murrieta, Calif., was named the inaugural espnW Softball Player of the Year and was a top three finalist for USA Softball Player of the Year. The two-time NFCA first-team All-American is also a two-time Big 10 Player of the Year and was named the 2015 Big Ten Tournament MVP. She is Michigan’s career leader in five offensive categories and was a 2014 nominee for the Honda Softball award.
THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards has honored the nation’s top NCAA women athletes for 39 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 $3.0 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees to support women’s athletics programs at the institutions.