When Haley Townsend '16 was first publicly recognized as a finalist for the NCAA Woman of the Year award, she was surrounded by her teammates, coaches and friends at Kenyon. Assistant coach Doug Lennox made a speech about how Townsend's athletic, academic and personal attributes and skills contributed to the Kenyon community.

"[It] was one of the most meaningful parts of my Kenyon experience," Townsend said.

Although remarkable, Townsend's story is not an exception within the Kenyon swimming and diving program. The Ladies' success at multiple levels of NCAA Woman of the Year voting has yielded eight national semifinalists, six finalists and the overall winner for the 2002-03 academic year. In fact, over the last five voting cycles, the Ladies had three student-athletes counted as one of nine national finalists for the prominent honor.

Most recently, Hannah Orbach-Mandel '19 was named a finalist following her senior season in the pool.

"The three years before I was nominated, we had two Kenyon Lady swimmers in the Top 9, which is an absolutely incredible accomplishment. I also know that the first athlete from a Division III institution to win Woman of the Year was a Kenyon swimmer. So, knowing that history made my nomination even more special," Orbach-Mandel said. "I felt like I was continuing on the Kenyon swimming legacy and that made me so proud."

In order to reach such lofty levels, nominees for the award had to navigate an exhaustive process. Currently, an institution's nominee must first win at the conference level. In Kenyon's case, seven student-athletes, over the last 13 years, were declared the North Coast Athletic Conference's Pam Smith Woman of the Year. From there, conference winners move on to the national level, where the NCAA Woman of the Year Selection Committee narrows things to a Top 30 (Top 10 from each of the three NCAA Divisions) and then a Top 9 (Top 3 from each Division). From those nine finalists, the committee selects the NCAA Woman of the Year.

The NCAA Woman of the Year program was established in 1991 and its purpose is to honor the academic achievements, athletics excellence, community service and leadership of graduating female college athletes.

"I think it is awesome that the NCAA has this award. Especially a woman-specific one," Townsend said. "It is empowering to meet all of the women during the process. To me, it was a lot more than this one-time award thing. It was about meeting a lot of cool women, doing awesome things across the board. I still follow many of them on social media to keep up with their daily lives."

The factors behind the Ladies' success in this process are many, but what stands out about all is the reciprocity between driven, capable student-athletes and a unique college community that provides inspiration, motivation and support.

"I grew so much as a student and as an athlete at Kenyon," Orbach-Mandel added. "The team aspect is huge and that pushed me to work harder every day for my team and to represent Kenyon."

Back in her senior season of 2003, Ashley Rowatt Karpinos, the first student-athlete from a Division III institution to be named NCAA Woman of the Year, opened the floodgates for the Ladies. She remembers the Kenyon table standing up and erupting in a cheer when her name was announced at the ceremony in Indianapolis.

"I was a first-year medical student at the time and spent most of the weekend studying for an anatomy test, but I was so honored to have Coach [Jim] Steen and other supporters from Kenyon there with me," Karpinos said.

She knew instantly that the recognition was, in part, the product of Kenyon's culture.

"I felt Kenyon deserved the recognition for its history of creating this environment of broad success for female athletes," Karpinos said. "Kenyon provides the opportunities and support that sets up student-athletes up for success. The NCAA Woman of the Year Award recognizes female athletes' achievements in academics, athletics, community service and leadership. Kenyon's opportunities for deep contributions in each of these realms, coupled with the support of expert faculty, coaches and campus leaders, really sets athletes up to be recognized externally and nationally."

Those community contributions, more so than the relentless practices or extraordinary meet results, are the bedrock of Kenyon's historic success.

"These women—and so many others, too—chose to engage in the Kenyon experience with an unbridled imagination. They saw possibilities ahead of them and were eager to work toward them," Head Coach Jess Book said. "Secondly, they welcomed the challenges that inevitably came along with the journey. Hurdles weren't barriers. They were simply part of the race itself. And lastly, they believed in the transformative power of team—and created teams around themselves in everything they did with professors, coaches, teammates, classmates and community members. Each of these women engaged in their experiences fully: with heart, passion, perseverance and imagination. And, in turn, were able to find the best in themselves and in those around them."

 

NCAA Woman of the Year  Year  Name  Sport  2003  Ashley Rowatt  Swimming  NCAA Woman of the Year - Top 9 Finalist / National Finalist  Year  Name  Sport  2019  Hannah Orbach-Mandel  Swimming  2017  Ellie Crawford  Swimming  2016  Haley Townsend  Swimming  2009  Tracy Menzel  Swimming  2003  Ashley Rowatt  Swimming  1991  Rebecca Little  Swimming  NCAA Woman of the Year - Top 30 Honorees / National Semifinalist  Year  Name  Sport  2019  Hannah Orbach-Mandel  Swimming  2018  Julia Wilson  Swimming  2017  Ellie Crawford  Swimming  2016  Haley Townsend  Swimming  2012  Alisa Vereshchagin  Swimming  2009  Tracy Menzel  Swimming  2003  Ashley Rowatt  Swimming  1991  Rebecca Little  Swimming   NCAA Woman of the Year - State of Ohio  Year  Name  Sport  2003  Ashley Rowatt  Swimming  1993  Jennifer Carter  Swimming  1991  Rebecca Little  Swimming   NCAC Pam Smith Woman of the Year  Year  Name  Sport  2019  Hannah Orbach-Mandel  Swimming  2018   Julia Wilson  Swimming  2017  Ellie Crawford  Swimming  2016  Haley Townsend  Swimming  2013  Leah Sack  Lacrosse  2012  Alisa Vereshchagin  Swimming  2009  Tracy Menzel  Swimming