HADLEY, Mass. - Eleven women have been nominated to represent the NESCAC as its NCAA Woman of the Year and Division III Commissioners Association Women's Sport Student-Athlete of the Year nominee. A committee of conference administrators will select the NESCAC's representative for the awards.
 
The NCAA Woman of the Year Award honors graduating student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service, and leadership. More information on the award and a list of previous winners can be found here.

The Division III Commissioners Association Women's Sport Student-Athlete of the Year award, which will be awarded for the first time this year, honors the same areas as the NCAA Woman of the Year Award.

Molly Craig, Williams Women's Swimming & Diving
Craig, a member of the Williams women's swimming & diving team, graduated with a biology degree and was a five-time Dean's List student. She was a three-time CSCAA Scholar All-American, and garnered USA Swimming Academic All-America honors. Craig has had her research published in five different journals while at Williams.

An 11-time All-American, Craig was the NCAA National Champion in the 400 IM in 2018 and again in 2022, while finishing as the runner-up in the event in 2019. She helped the Ephs win three NESCAC Championships and she was a seven-time NESCAC Champion. Craig owns the NESCAC record in the 100-meter individual medley and was the NESCAC Career High-Point Award winner at the 2022 conference championship meet. In 2022, she was presented with the Williams College Purple Key Award, which is given to the senior scholar-athlete who best exemplifies leadership, team spirit, ability, and character.

Craig has participated in many volunteer and service activities, including working as a Rural Health Courier Internship and Remote Area Medical Volunteer in Kentucky and Virginia, providing healthcare and education to rural and low-income areas. She has also served as an activities counselor at Camp Caso - a free summer camp for pediatric cancer patients, been a regular volunteer for 'Great Day of Service' days at Williams, a WCFM Board DJ, a Peer Health Committee member, a Williams Residential Life Junior Advisor, a Rape and Sexual Assault Network volunteer, a Williams College Biology Research Assistant, and a Science Fellow at Williamstown Elementary School.

Maddie Ford, Connecticut College Women's Swimming & Diving
Ford, a swimmer at Connecticut College and a double-major in computer science and art, graduated with distinction in both majors. She was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society and was a Winthrop Scholar. She earned Dean's List honors four times and was a four-time NESCAC All-Academic Honoree. Ford was selected to the CoSIDA Women's At-Large All-America Team in 2020 and was a four-time CSCAA Scholar All-American. She was presented with the Brown Brooks Award, given to the College's top female scholar-athlete.

A five-time NCAA All-American, Ford also earned All-NESCAC honors seven times over her four years swimming for the Camels.

Out of the pool, Ford created an interactive experience "unblocked" on the Connecticut College campus working with the Ammerman Center for the Arts and Technology. She also served as a team leader for the Little Free Library working directly with volunteers in Canada and was an active member of the Equity in STEM Club on campus.

Ruby Hastie, Amherst Women's Soccer
Hastie graduated summa cum laude from Amherst majoring in sociology and economics. She completed honors thesis work for the sociology department and was awarded the Donald S. Pitkin Prize in Anthropology-Sociology and the James R. Nelson Memorial Award by the economics department. She was also the recipient of the Psi Upsilon Prize by the College. She was a three-time NESCAC All-Academic selection, a United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-American, and a CoSIDA Women's Soccer Academic All-District honoree.

A captain of the women's soccer team as a senior, Hastie earned a spot on the All-NESCAC First Team. She also garnered a spot on the NEWISA All-New England squad and the United Soccer Coaches All-Region Team. Hastie contributed to Amherst's NESCAC Championship team that won the conference crown in 2019.

Hastie was a four-year member of the Council of Amherst College Student-Athletes of Color (CACSAC), serving on the Executive Board for three years and was the Vice President as a senior. She participated in the Amherst LEADS program, was a teaching assistant in economics, and a research assistant in both biology and economics.

Mary Hufzinger, Tufts Women's Swimming & Diving
Hufzinger graduated from Tufts with summa cum laude honors as a double major in biology and psychology. She was a seven-time Dean's List student, a three-time NESCAC All-Academic Team honoree, and a CSCAA Scholar All-American.

A captain of the Tufts Women's Swimming & Diving team, she was a 10-time All-American and won the NCAA title in the 800 freestyle relay in 2022. She helped the Jumbos capture their first NESCAC Women's Swimming & Diving Championship as a senior and was a three-time All-NESCAC performer. Hufzinger was presented with the team's Nancy Bigelow Award in 2022 and also was honored with the Kathy Elliott Cobb Award. She finished her career owning five school records at Tufts.

Hufzinger was a member of Tufts SAAC, the Tufts Swimming & Diving Community Service Representative for activities held each month, and a Volunteer Technician Assistant at Nutmeg Spay/Neuter Clinic. She also was a project leader for Tufts Community Outreach at the Walnut Street Center.

Sharde Johnson, Colby Women's Indoor & Outdoor Track & Field
Johnson, a member of the women's indoor and outdoor track and field teams at Colby, graduated magna cum laude with a degree in psychology. She was a Phi Beta Kappa inductee and earned honors in psychology and the Paul Perez Psychology Award. She was a six-time NESCAC All-Academic selection and two-time Dean's Lists student.

As a junior, Johnson won the NCAA title in the high jump at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. She also achieved All-American status with the victory and qualified for her second NCAA Championships in 2022. Johnson, a team captain in 2022, was a three-time All-NESCAC performer and owns both the indoor and outdoor high jump records at Colby. She is also included on the program's all-time top 10 list for the women's triple jump.

Away from the track, Johnson served on the DavisConnects Search Committee for the Colby Dean of Student and Global Advancement, as a research assistant in the psychology department, an Evening Sandwich Program volunteer, and was a student leader for the African Drumming Ensemble. Johnson has also been a student worker in the library and produced content for Colby's official social media accounts.

Joanna Kim, Williams Women's Golf
Kim, a two-time captain of the Williams Women's Golf team, was a three-year Dean's List student and graduated with a degree in biology. She was a recipient of the Hellman Internship Award and an NSF-funded scholar. She was also a 1960s Biology and BIMO Scholar at Williams.

Kim helped the Ephs finish as the NCAA National Runner-up in 2019, and was the top Williams golfer at the 2022 NCAA Championship. The Ephs also won two NESCAC titles during Kim's career and she was named the NESCAC Rookie of the Year in 2019 while also being an All-NESCAC selection in 2019 and 2022. She also garnered Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) All-Region accolades three times.

Off the course, Kim served as the lead golf coach at the PGA & ERG Junior Golf Camps, a Williams First Days Orientation group leader, an EduMate NYC Tutor mentoring low-income English as a second language students in English and math, a biology teaching assistant and tutor for Young Women in Science, a member of Williams SAAC, a Senior Letter Writer for Love For Our Elders - sending handwritten letters across 70 countries to elderly individuals during the pandemic, and an American Red Cross Volunteer to support blood donors. She also founded Birdies for Berkshire, a service project in support of the National Alliance for Mental Health (NAMI), and a family leader of Korean of Williams.

Erin Nicholas, Middlebury Field Hockey & Women's Lacrosse
Nicholas graduated summa cum laude from Middlebury with a degree in molecular biology/biochemistry. She was a seven-time NESCAC All-Academic selection as a two-sport athlete competing in field hockey and women's lacrosse and a five-time National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) National Academic Team honoree. A two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American in women's lacrosse, Nicholas was awarded the Charles B. Allen Memorial Prize and the A. Bayard Russ '66 Memorial Athletic Award. Nicholas also collaborated with others on a research project with New York Orthopedics and the findings were published in the Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise Journal.

Nicholas, a captain of both the field hockey and women's lacrosse teams as a senior, won four NCAA Field Hockey titles during her career as Middlebury became the first program to win four straight NCAA crowns and was twice named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Field Hockey Tournament. She also won two NCAA titles as a women's lacrosse player. She was a three-time NFHCA National Player of the Year and three-time All-American in field hockey and achieved All-America status in 2019 and 2022 in women's lacrosse. Nicholas was an all-region player in both sports and the NFHCA Regional Player of the Year three times. The Panthers captured four straight NESCAC Field Hockey titles and three women's lacrosse conference championships during her time on both squads. She was the NESCAC Field Hockey Rookie of the Year in 2017 and earned NESCAC Player of the Year honors as a sophomore, junior and senior, and was also an All-NESCAC First-Team performer in women's lacrosse. Nicholas ranks among the all-time program leaders in five different categories in the field hockey record book and three women's lacrosse categories.

Nicholas' involvement in community initiatives included being a Morgan's Message Ambassador, a PushBack at Parkinson's volunteer, a Sister-to-Sister mentor for middle school-aged children in Addison County, a volunteer at local community suppers in Middlebury, a Kiddie Lax volunteer coach for local youths during the spring, a molecular biology/biochemistry mentor, the public relations manager for the Middlebury chapter of Love Your Melon, and the community engagement officer for the Middlebury Student Government Athletic Affairs Committee. She also spent a month in India as part of the East India Field Hockey Project using field hockey to help combat human trafficking and teach a variety of subjects to students at a local elementary school.

Lydia Pitts, Bowdoin Women's Track & Field
Pitts, a member of the Bowdoin women's indoor and outdoor track & field teams, graduated with degrees in computer science and digital and computational studies. An eight-time NESCAC All-Academic honoree, she received the Sarah and James Bowdoin Scholar Award, given to the student with the highest GPA in each class in 2019. Pitts has interned at several organizations, including NASA's Mission to Psyche.

She qualified for the 2022 NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Championships and achieved All-America status in the triple jump during the 2022 indoor season. She is a four-time All-NESCAC performer and was named the NESCAC Most Outstanding Rookie Performer in 2019. Pitts, the captain of both the indoor and outdoor track & field teams as a senior, owns four Bowdoin school records and six all-time top 10 marks in the program.

Pitts was heavily involved in and around the Bowdoin community. She served as a mentor at Mount Ararat Middle School and a math tutor at the Harriett Beecher Stowe Elementary School. She was an Out Peer supporting the LGBTQIA+ community at Bowdoin, a SAVO Volunteer supporting prospective students' experience via the Bowdoin Admissions Office, a member of the Bowdoin Women in Computer Science Club, a First-Year Proctor as part of Bowdoin's Residential Life Staff, and a volunteer for Bowdoin's Women in Sports Day festivities.

Nina Pruenster, Colby Women's Ice Hockey
Pruenster graduated with distinction from Colby as a double-major in economics and computational psychology. A four-time Dean's List student and three-time NESCAC All-Academic selection, she was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Women's At-Large Team as a senior.

In her final season at Colby, Pruenster, a team captain, earned AHCA First Team All-American honors and was a 2022 NSCA Strength & Conditioning Athlete of the Year. The Colby team MVP in 2022, she was named to the All-NESCAC First Team, a New England Hockey Writers Association All-Star, and was the recipient of the Patty Valavanis Award on the Colby campus. Pruenster finished her career setting a school record for most wins in a season as a goalie (16).

Off the ice, Pruenster served as a mentor in the Colby Cares About Kids and the Best Buddies program in Waterville, Maine. She was a lead tutor for German and Italian in the Penobscot Bay Language School and a math, English, and German tutor for immigrant children in Salzburg, Austria through the GenerationLernen program. She also worked as a teaching assistant and tutor in the Colby economics department.

Bridget Thompson, Bates Field Hockey
Thompson was a double-major at Bates studying art history and history and graduated in May. She was a four-time Zag Field Hockey/NFHCA Division III Scholar of Distinction honoree and a three-time NESCAC All-Academic selection. She was the recipient of the Milton L. Lindholm Scholar-Athlete Award presented to the varsity letter-winning athlete from a women's team with the highest cumulative GPA at Bates. Thompson was also a Dana Scholar and her honors thesis won the Ernest P. Muller History Prize.

Thompson participated in several activities on the Bates campus. She was a Senior Fellow and Tour Guide in the Bates Admissions Office, served several roles in the Bates Special Olympics Club, including President, was Co-President of the Bates SAAC, and served as the community liaison for the Bates field hockey team. She was also a weekly DJ on WRBC, while also interning with the Bates Museum of Art and being a member of the Cats v. COVID program.

Kim Zhou, Amherst Women's Soccer
Zhou was a double major at Amherst, studying biology and mathematics. She graduated in May and was a two-time NESCAC All-Academic honoree and garnered United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-American First Team honors as a senior.

Zhou helped the Mammoths capture the NESCAC Women's Soccer title in 2019 and was a Second Team All-American in 2021. She was a two-time All-NESCAC selection and earned spots on the United Soccer Coaches All-Region First Team and NEWISA All-New England First Team. The MVP of the Amherst squad as a senior, she was presented with the Amherst College Sphinx Club Award and the Amherst College Edward Spungnardi Award.

Outside of her athletics experience, Zhou was a member of the Council of Amherst College Student-Athletes of Color (CACSAC) and served on the Executive Board. She was the Women's Soccer DEI Representative at Amherst, worked as a teaching assistant in biology labs, and participated in promoting sustainability on campus as an Eco-Rep.