University of Albany's Ashley Ross & Jenn Gurrant Nominated for America East Woman of the Year - UAlbany Sports 2009

Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information

Cambridge, Mass. – University at Albany’s Ashley Ross and Jenn Gurrant are among eleven student-athletes who are institutional nominees for 2009 America East Woman of the Year, as announced on Tuesday, May 5 by the conference office.

Binghamton’s Ashley Allen (volleyball), Boston University’s Christy Leath (softball) and Marisha Schumacher-Hodge (soccer), Hartford’s Kacey Busque (soccer), Maine’s Ashley Waters (softball), UMBC’s Cornelia Carapcea, New Hampshire’s Michaela Hardy (lacrosse), Stony Brook’s Kaitlin Leggio (lacrosse) and Vermont’s Kristen Millar (lacrosse) have also been chosen as the senior female student-athletes on their respective campuses that best exemplified a commitment to service, leadership, athletics and academics during their collegiate careers.

To be nominated, student-athletes must have earned a varsity letter in an NCAA-sponsored sport and competed during the 2008-09 academic year, completed intercollegiate athletic eligibility in her primary sport by the end of the 2009 spring season or received her undergraduate degree prior to the conclusion of the summer 2009 term and have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.500 (4.000 scale).

Ross, a goalkeeper on the UAlbany field hockey and lacrosse teams, received an ECAC Merit Medal as the school’s top senior female student-athlete during the current academic year. A three-time All-America East performer in field hockey, Ross was named the conference championship’s most outstanding player when she led the program to both its first America East title and NCAA Tournament appearance. She has a 3.70 cumulative grade point average in communication.

Gurrant, a member of the track & field squad, won the 2009 ECAC indoor triple jump with a leap of 42-feet, 6.25-inches. She also captured the America East indoor title in the same event and was a member of the winning 4x400-meter relay. Gurrant helped UAlbany win the America East outdoor team championship for the first time since 2007. She placed second in the triple jump with a school-record mark (42-0.75) and ran on two second-place relays. She has a 3.19 GPA in communication.

In conjunction with the changes in the nomination process for the NCAA Woman of the Year, the America East Woman of the Year award was established in the 2005-06 athletic season. Beginning in 2006, the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics (CWA) started receiving conference-designated nominees in lieu of the previous institution- and state-based nomination format.

The nominees will be narrowed down to three finalists on Wednesday, May 27 with the America East Woman of the Year being announced on Tuesday, June 9.

The America East Woman of the Year will be forwarded to the NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee. The selection committee will select the top 10 winners in each NCAA division (I, II and III). From among those 30 honorees, the selection committee will determine the top three in each division. Finally, the members of the CWA will vote from among the top nine to determine the 2009 NCAA Woman of the Year.