LANCASTER, Pa. – Washington College’s Jackie Creitz and Swarthmore’s Tess Wei were selected as the 2017 Centennial Conference NCAA Woman of the Year nominees. The nominees were slected in a balloting by Conference Senior Women Administrators (SWA’s). Creitz and Wei were both multisport athletes who contributed to their campuses athletically, academically, 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. This year marks the 27th year of the Woman of the Year Award program.
Creitz was the female winner of Washington College's 2017 Senior Athlete of the Year, recognizing the school's top male and female graduating varsity student-athletes. In rowing, she was a 2016 All-America first team and 2016 All-Mid Atlantic Rowing Conference (MARC) selection, a three-time College Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) National Scholar-Athlete, and a three-time Academic All-MARC selection. She helped lead her team to four consecutive MARC Championships and four consecutive appearances at the NCAA Division III Championships. In swimming, Creitz was a three-time Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll qualifier. She was also named to the 2017 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District II Women's At-Large Team. She graduated in May with Bachelor of Science degrees in Math and Computer Science with a 3.747 cumulative grade-point average.
Wei, a cross country and track & field standout, graduated this spring as an honors major in studio art, an honors minor in sociology & anthropology, and a course minor in art history. After playing varsity soccer in her freshman year, Wei joined the cross country team as a sophomore. In her junior season, she was named to the All-Centennial Conference Second Team with a 13th-place finish at the championship meet. Wei also earned NCAA Mideast All-Region Honors that year as the Garnet’s top regional finisher, finishing 23rd among 334 participants. She rounded out her breakout season as a member of the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Team and as the Centennial Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award for women’s cross country, given to the All-Conference team member with the highest GPA. In 2016, Wei ran the Philadelphia Marathon in 3:05.16, finishing sixth in her age group and 39th
The NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee will select the top 30 honorees – 10 from each division – from the conference nominees. From among those 30 candidates, the selection committee determines the top three in each division and announces the top nine finalists in September. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics (CWA) will then vote from among the finalists to determine the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year. The top 30 honorees will be honored, and the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year winner will be announced at the annual ceremony in Indianapolis on Sunday, Oct. 22.