INDIANAPOLIS – Graduate student Laura van der Doorn (Beverwijk, The Netherlands) of the Southern New Hampshire University field hockey team was selected as a conference-level nominee for the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year Award on Tuesday.
From a record pool of 605 school nominees, van der Doorn is one of 161 student-athletes from 21 sports across all three divisions to be chosen as a conference-level nominee. van der Doorn is also one of just 39 Division II athletes and five field hockey players, as well as the only DII field hockey athlete, to be recognized.
van der Doorn had previously been awarded the Northeast-10 Woman of the Year award back in May, becoming the first NE10 Woman of the Year from SNHU in the 15-year history of the award, as well as the fourth field hockey student-athlete to earn the honor. van der Doorn was one of two student-athletes to earn the honor, along with senior Nina Predanic of the College of Saint Rose women's soccer team, who was also picked as an NCAA conference-level nominee.
van der Doorn submitted the most decorated campaign in program history, becoming Penmen field hockey's first NFHCA All-America First Team honoree, in addition to being named both the NFHCA East Region and Northeast-10 Player of the Year. Earning her second straight NE10 First Team nod, van der Doorn registered 15 goals and five assists for 35 points, as she established a new program record for goals. She also had two separate goals appear on ESPN SportsCenter's "Top 10." The captain ranked eighth in the nation in goals and 11th in points, while placing first and second in conference in those respective categories. van der Doorn, who was pursuing her Master's degree in Teaching English as a Foreign Language and had posted a perfect 4.0 grade-point average, was also exquisite in the classroom, earning multiple academic accolades, including the NFHCA Division II National Scholar-Athlete and NE10 Sport Excellence Award. van der Doorn, SNHU's 2019-20 Female Athlete of the Year, also received College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District At-Large Team and NE10 Academic All-Conference honors, in addition to seeing her name on the Zag Sports/NFHCA National Academic Squad and Scholars of Distinction lists.
The NCAA Woman of the Year program is rooted in Title IX and has recognized graduating female college athletes for excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership since its inception in 1991.
The Woman of the Year Selection Committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will now choose the Top 30 honorees — 10 from each division — from the conference-level nominees. The Top 30 honorees will be announced in September. From there, the selection committee will narrow the pool to three finalists from each division. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will select the 2020 Woman of the Year from the nine finalists.
The Top 30 honorees will be celebrated and the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year will be named this fall.
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