Photo by David Sinclair
McDaniel’s Paige Messersmith has been selected as the 2013 Centennial Conference NCAA Woman of the Year nominee, as selected in a balloting by Conference administrators. The senior, two-sport athlete from Phoenix, Md. led the Green Terror field hockey and lacrosse teams on the field, in the classroom and in the community.
The NCAA Woman of the Year Award is presented annually to a graduating student-athlete who has distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership.
Messersmith was a four-year letterwinner for both the Green Terror field hockey and women's lacrosse teams. In field hockey, she ranks fourth all-time with 66 points and in the top 10 for both goals and assists. This past fall, she established a new single-season program record for goals (18) and points (45). In lacrosse, she is the conference record holder for draw controls with 300 in her career. She is a four-time all-conference selection and three-time all-region nod. She was named a second-team All-American in her senior season. She led the field hockey team to the ECAC tournament in each of the last two seasons and to the ECAC championship game this spring in women's lacrosse.
Messersmith won the 2013 Maryland Association of College Directors of Athletics (MACDA) postgraduate scholarship for her superior work in the classroom and on the field. She has earned Dean's List honors, both NFHCA and IWLCA National Academic Squad recognition and Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll accolades. She volunteers her time in youth clinics for both sports while also serving on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and the Apple Conference for Alcohol Awareness.
She graduated with a 3.62 grade-point average in exercise science and she plans to work toward her master's degree in nutrition/public health and business in the fall.
The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics (CWA) selection committee will choose the top 10 honorees in each division. From among those 30 candidates, the selection committee will determine the top three in each division. Finally, the members of the CWA will vote from among the top nine finalists to determine the 2013 NCAA Woman of the Year.
The top 10 honorees and the nine finalists from Divisions I, II and III will be honored and the 2013 NCAA Woman of the Year winner announced at a dinner in Indianapolis this October.
Click here for the list past winners of the NCAA Woman of the Year award.