Former Swimming All-American Ruth Westby A Top 30 Honoree For NCAA Woman Of The Year Award

Former Emory swimming All-American Ruth Westby is one of 30 finalists for the 2010 NCAA Woman of the Year Award that will be presented in October.

The NCAA Woman of the Year Award honors senior women student-athletes who have excelled in the areas of academic achievement, athletics, service and leadership.

Westby closed out a standout career her career in grand style, earning all-America honors in seven different events for the third time in her career, finishing her time at Emory with a school-record five National Championships and 27 all-America honors.  In addition, she became the first Eagle in school history to win all-America honors in the same three individual events all four years of eligibility, doing so in the 50-yard, 100-yard and 200-yard freestyles. Her performance sparked the Eagles in their march to the 2010 NCAA Division III Championship, the program’s third-ever national crown.  Westby also shined in the academic realm as she was awarded the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Award as well as being named to the ESPN The Magazine CoSIDA At-Large Academic All-America First Team.

A committee composed of representatives from NCAA member schools and conferences selected the top 30 honorees - 10 from each division - from a pool of 132 conference nominees, which included seven student-athletes from independent institutions, representing all three NCAA divisions and multiple sports.

The top 30 will be trimmed to nine finalists - three from each division – later this month and the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will select the national winner from that pool of finalists. The recipient of the 20th annual award will be announced during the 2010 NCAA Woman of the Year awards dinner on October 17 in Indianapolis.


To see the Top 30 Honorees, click here.