LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Recent Rider University graduate
Bethany-May Howard, a four-year member of the women's soccer program, has been announced as a nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
Established in 1991 and now in its 27th year, the NCAA Woman of the Year Award recognizes exceptional student-athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service, and leadership. There are 543 nominees for this year's award, which is the most ever in the history of the Woman of the Year program. 229 of those nominees come from the Division I ranks and 84 are women's soccer student-athletes.
"When she was a student-athlete at Rider, Bethany-May went from the All-Rookie team to Second Team All-MAAC twice and then in her senior year was named First Team All-MAAC and Goalkeeper of the Year," said Rider Head Coach
Drayson Hounsome. "She won a MAAC championship and was named Tournament MVP and was player of the match in the NCAA tournament against nationally-ranked University of Washington. She was named 'MAAC Defensive Player of the Week over 10 times."
A two-year team captain and three-time All-MAAC selection, Howard is Rider's all-time leader in wins (34) and shutouts (20). Howard earned All-Region Third Team as a junior and was a Second-Team All-MAAC selection as a sophomore and junior. She earned MAAC Championship MVP in leading Rider to the MAAC title in 2014 and was a three-time MAAC All-Academic Team selection. Howard was also honored on the 2013 MAAC All-Rookie Team. In addition, Howard was Rider's nominee for NJAIAW Woman of the Year in 2017.
Off the field, Howard volunteered with Relay for Life and Special Olympics Unified Sports and also served as a writing tutor at Rider's Academic Success Center. She also gave her time as a goalkeeper instructor at the Somerset FA and was a staff writer for The Rider News. Howard was a Rider University College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Honor Society inductee and graduated with honors from the Baccalaureate Honors Program with a degree in history, posting a 3.95 grade-point average. She was a three-year Dean's List honoree, a member of the Pi Delta Phi French Honor Society, a recipient of the Emmanuel Levine History Research Prize and earned the American Association of Teachers of French Outstanding Student in French Award. Further, she was the recipient of the Foreign Language Study Award for French, earned the Writing Consultant of Eminence Award from Rider's Academic Success Center and earned College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-District 2 First Team distinction.
Next, conferences will select up to two conference nominees each from the pool of school nominees. 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 the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year from those nine.
The top 30 honorees will be recognized and the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced at the annual award ceremony Oct. 22 in Indianapolis.
