Teammates Taylor Cummings and Alice Mercer of the University of Maryland, University of Notre Dame’s Barbara Sullivan and Kayla Treanor of Syracuse University are the four nominees for the Honda Sport Award for lacrosse as announced by Chris Voelz, Executive Director of THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA) today.
The Honda Sport Award has been presented annually by the CWSA for the past 40 years 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 2016 Honda Cup which will be presented on a live telecast on CBS Sports Network on June 27, 2016, in the Founders’ Room at the Galen Center on the campus of the University of Southern California in downtown Los, Angeles.
The nominees were chosen by a panel of coaches representing the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA). The Honda Sport award winner for lacrosse will be announced next week after voting by administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools. Each NCAA member institution has a vote.
Cummings has won the Honda Sport Award for lacrosse in back-to-back seasons and this is her third Honda Award nomination. The senior midfielder is a two-time recipient of the Tewaaraton award and is a 2016 finalist for the honor as well. She is a four-time IWLCA first-team All-American and a two-time Big Ten Midfielder of the Year. Hailing from Ellicott City, Md., she finished 2016 with a team-leading 62 ground balls, 144 draw controls and 52 caused turnovers. She also added 79 points on 60 goals and 19 assists.
Mercer was the 2016 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and anchored Maryland’s eighth-ranked defense with 39 ground balls, 16 draw controls and 31 caused turnovers. The defender from Woodbine, Md., is a 2016 Tewaaraton finalist. She was named to the 2016 Big Ten All-Tournament team and is a two-time All-Big Ten honoree.
A grad student from Garden City, N.Y., Sullivan was twice named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year and is a three-time IWLCA first-team All-American and two-time Tewaaraton finalist. She led a Notre Dame defense that ranked first in the NCAA in caused turnovers and finished the 2016 season with a team-leading 48 ground balls, 65 draw controls and 55 caused turnovers. She holds Notre Dame’s single-game, single-season and career records for both caused turnovers and draw controls.
Treanor is the first four-time IWLCA first-team All-American in Syracuse lacrosse history. The attack player from Niskayuna, N.Y., is a three-time Honda Award nominee and Tewaaraton finalist and was three times named the ACC Offensive Player of the Year. She is the NCAA all-time DI single-season leader in draw controls with 217 this season and is the program’s all-time leader in goals with 260 career tallies. The senior led the Orange in points (90), goals (50), assists (40) and draw controls this season.
The CWSA, celebrating its 40th year, has honored the nation’s top NCAA women athletes 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.