Sarah Finnegan from Louisiana State University, Christine Peng-Peng Lee of UCLA, Oklahoma University’s Maggie Nichols and Elizabeth Price of Stanford University are the four nominees for the Class of 2018 Honda Sport Award for Gymnastics 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 42 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 2018 Honda Cup which will be presented on a live telecast on CBS Sports Network on Monday, June 25, 2018, in downtown Los, Angeles.
The nominees were chosen by a panel of coaches representing the National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches/Women (NACGC/W). The Honda Sport award winner for Gymnastics will be announced next week after voting by administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools. Each NCAA member institution has a vote.
Finnegan, a junior from Lee’s Summit, Mo., was named the 2018 SEC Gymnast of the Year and is a 15-time All-American in her three seasons at LSU. She helped lead the Tigers to the second-most wins in school history with 33 this year and the highest Super Six score in school history with a fourth-place finish. She was the first gymnast ever at LSU to finish No. 1 in regional qualifying scores (RQS) on uneven bars and was the second gymnast in school history to earn a 10.0 on three different events in the same season.
Christine Peng-Peng Lee is a redshirt senior hailing from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and led UCLA to the 2018 NCAA Championship title in a come-from-behind victory after needing a 9.975 on beam in the final routing and scoring a perfect 10 to secure the victory. She finished the Championship with two perfect 10s and captured the National Championship in balance beam. She is a nine-time All-American and was named the 2018 Pac-12 Scholar Athlete of the Year.
Nichols was named the 2018 Big 12 Gymnast of the Year and is a two-time Honda Sport Award finalist in just her sophomore year. A native of Little Canada, Minn., she is a 12-time All-American and was the 2018 NCAA Individual Champion in the all-around, uneven bars and on floor . She earned All-Big 12 honors in all five events this season after completing the feat last year to become just the second gymnast in conference history to earn All-Big 12 honors on all four events and the all-around in multiple seasons.
Price is the AAI Award winner which is presented to the most outstanding senior female gymnast. The senior from Coopersburg, Pa., is the two-time Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year and is a two-time NCAA Champion in the uneven bars, scoring a perfect 10 in the 2018 Championship to share the title. A 19-time All-American overall, she finished the 2018 season with 33 firsts and 34 scores of 9.900 or higher.
Honda Sport Award winners will be presented with the honor during on-campus presentations throughout the year and all Honda Sport Award winners become a finalist for the prestigious 2018 Honda Cup award presented in June.
The CWSA, celebrating its 42nd year, has honored the nation’s top NCAA women athletes for their superior athletic skills, leadership, academic excellence and eagerness to participate in community service. Since commencing its sponsorship in 1986, Honda has provided more than $3.1 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees to support women’s athletics programs.