Lake Forest College hockey player Kayla Griffith was recently listed among the nominees for the 2018 NCAA Woman of the Year.
Griffith is a three-time All-American defenseman and four-time All-Northern Collegiate Hockey Association selection. She graduated in May ranked fourth in program history with 55 career assists and tied-for-seventh with 83 points. The Foresters' 75 victories (against just 28 losses and seven ties) are the most of any four-year span in team history and she played in every contest during that time. Griffith was also a two-year captain and helped lead the squad to a 55-13-4 record in NCHA play, three NCHA Slaats Cup final appearances, and a trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
In addition to her success on the ice, Griffith was also an excellent student. The biology major was a three-time NCHA All-Academic Team honoree and graduated magna cum laude with a 3.83 cumulative grade point average. She was on the Dean's list all four years and, as the owner of the highest GPA on her team, a member of the Forester Academic Team.
The NCAA Woman of the Year award honors graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in academics, athletics, service, and leadership.
At 581, this pool of school honorees marks the largest in the 28-year history of the award. Griffith is one of 199 nominees from NCAA Division III institutions and two from the NCHA.
The NCAA encourages member schools to honor their top graduating female student-athletes each year by submitting their names for consideration for the Woman of the Year award.
Next, conferences assess their member school nominees and select up to two league nominees. Because the Foresters' primary conference does not include her sport, Griffith will be considered along with nominees from similar programs and those from independent institutions and as many as two individuals from that group will join the conference winners in the next round of the selection process. The Woman of the Year selection committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will then choose the top 30 honorees - 10 from each division.
From the top 30, the selection committee determines the top three honorees from each division and announces the nine finalists in September. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics then chooses from among those nine to determine the 2018 NCAA Woman of the Year.
The top 30 honorees will be celebrated and the 2018 NCAA Woman of the Year winner will be announced at the annual award ceremony October 28 in Indianapolis.
To view the entire list of school nominees, click here.