Rockhurst University's Taylor Skala has been selected as the Great Lakes Valley Conference's representative for the 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year.
A four-year All-GLVC standout for the women's soccer team, Skala helped lead the Hawks to 53 wins and three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. She broke the school records in career goals (48) and career points (108). She also lettered four years in basketball and was the team captain in her senior year.
Skala, who graduated in May with a 3.84 grade point average in Cell and Molecular Biology, received the GLVC's prestigious Award Richard F. Scharf Paragon Award as the league's female athlete of the year last May in St. Louis.
"Taylor's work ethic is beyond imaginable," said Rockhurst women's soccer coach Greg Herdlick. "Her desire to be the best she can be demonstrates her role as a leader and her teammates to follow her passion to be better than the day before. The first one to practice and the last one to leave, Taylor's actions speak louder than her performance. It is the intangible traits that Taylor possesses that make everyone around her a better player and person."
Skala is one of 147 NCAA female student-athletes representing multiple sports across NCAA Divisions I, II and III have been selected as 2015 Woman of the Year honorees by their athletics conferences and by independent schools.
The conference honorees represent student-athletes from 18 different sports. By division, 57 honorees competed in Division I conferences, 39 competed in Division II, and 51 competed in Division III.
Next, the Woman of the Year selection committee will select the top 10 honorees in each division from this pool to be recognized. These top 30 honorees will be announced in early September. The selection committee will then choose and announce the top nine finalists (three from each division) at the end of September. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will vote from amongst those nine finalists to determine the 2015 Woman of the Year.
The top 30 honorees will be honored, and the 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year winner will be announced, at the annual ceremony in Indianapolis on Sunday, Oct. 18. Now in its 25th year, the NCAA Woman of the Year award honors graduating female student-athletes for their achievements in academics, athletics, community service and leadership.
