Posted: Jul 14, 2020
TLU Softball's DeAnna Hernandez among record nominees for NCAA Woman of the Year
SEGUIN, Texas -- Texas Lutheran graduate DeAnna Hernandez (Sugar Land/Dulles) is one of the record 605 female college student-athletes nominated for the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
Rooted in Title IX, the NCAA Woman of the Year Award was established in 1991 to recognize graduating female student-athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their collegiate careers.
The nominees represent all three NCAA divisions. There are 259 nominees from Division I, 126 from Division II and 220 from Division III. Nominees competed in 24 sports, with multisport student-athletes accounting for 128 of the nominees.
Member schools are encouraged to honor their top graduating female college athletes each year by submitting their names for consideration for the Woman of the Year Award. Schools can recognize two nominees if at least one is a woman of color or international student-athlete.
TLU's softball conference, the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, previously announced Hernandez was one of seven finalists for 2020 SCAC Woman of the Year.
Hernandez graduated in May 2020 from TLU with a 4.0 grade point average as a biochemistry major.
The 2019-20 TLU Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Hernandez was a four-year letter-winner for the Bulldogs, the 2019 NCAA Division III National Champions. She also claimed TLU's Junior-Year Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year award in 2019.
Hernandez played a key role in the program's first-ever NCAA Division III National Championship. The Bulldogs defeated Emory twice on May 27, 2019 in the best-of-three championship series to earn the title and complete a stretch during which they won 19 of 20 games.
Hernandez was named the 2019 Elite 90 Award Winner for NCAA Division III Softball at the national championship finals banquet. The Elite 90 award is given during each NCAA sport's national championship event. The NCAA conducts 90 national championships each year. The award is given to the participating student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average.
In 2020, Hernandez was named the SCAC's Elite 19 Award Winner for Softball. The SCAC Elite 19 awards are modeled after the NCAA's Elite 90 awards.
Hernandez and the Bulldogs were 19-1 and ranked second in the DIII when the 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A three-time SCAC Academic Honor Roll award recipient and a 2019 SCAC First Team All-Conference selection, Hernandez was a career .340 hitter with a career on-base percentage of .412. She registered 37 stolen bases in 42 career attempts.
In the Bulldogs' national championship season of 2019, Hernandez hit .367, stole 17 bases, and scored 30 runs. She posted an on-base percentage of .451.
Hernandez was a First-Team All-SCAC selection in 2019. Last season, Hernandez helped lead the Bulldogs to their sixth-straight SCAC Softball Championship.
Hernandez was a four-time member of the SCAC Spring Academic Honor Roll, and she made the TLU President's List in all eight of her collegiate semesters.
Hernandez was a TLU Chemistry Grant award recipient in 2019, and she was the secretary of the TLU Black & Gold President's Council for the 2019-20 academic year. She also served on the TLU Campus Activity Board, as a TLU Peer Mentor, as an organic chemistry research assistant, and as secretary and president of the TLU Pre-Health Professions Club.
Conference offices will select up to two nominees each from their pool of member school nominees. All nominees who compete in a sport not sponsored by their school's primary conference, as well as associate conference nominees and independent nominees, will be considered by a selection committee. Then, the Woman of the Year selection committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will choose the Top 30 honorees — 10 from each division.
From the Top 30, the Woman of the Year selection committee will determine the top three honorees in each division and announce nine finalists. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics then will choose the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year, who will be named this fall.
Rooted in Title IX, the NCAA Woman of the Year Award was established in 1991 to recognize graduating female student-athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their collegiate careers.
The nominees represent all three NCAA divisions. There are 259 nominees from Division I, 126 from Division II and 220 from Division III. Nominees competed in 24 sports, with multisport student-athletes accounting for 128 of the nominees.
Member schools are encouraged to honor their top graduating female college athletes each year by submitting their names for consideration for the Woman of the Year Award. Schools can recognize two nominees if at least one is a woman of color or international student-athlete.
TLU's softball conference, the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, previously announced Hernandez was one of seven finalists for 2020 SCAC Woman of the Year.
Hernandez graduated in May 2020 from TLU with a 4.0 grade point average as a biochemistry major.
The 2019-20 TLU Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Hernandez was a four-year letter-winner for the Bulldogs, the 2019 NCAA Division III National Champions. She also claimed TLU's Junior-Year Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year award in 2019.
Hernandez played a key role in the program's first-ever NCAA Division III National Championship. The Bulldogs defeated Emory twice on May 27, 2019 in the best-of-three championship series to earn the title and complete a stretch during which they won 19 of 20 games.
Hernandez was named the 2019 Elite 90 Award Winner for NCAA Division III Softball at the national championship finals banquet. The Elite 90 award is given during each NCAA sport's national championship event. The NCAA conducts 90 national championships each year. The award is given to the participating student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average.
In 2020, Hernandez was named the SCAC's Elite 19 Award Winner for Softball. The SCAC Elite 19 awards are modeled after the NCAA's Elite 90 awards.
Hernandez and the Bulldogs were 19-1 and ranked second in the DIII when the 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A three-time SCAC Academic Honor Roll award recipient and a 2019 SCAC First Team All-Conference selection, Hernandez was a career .340 hitter with a career on-base percentage of .412. She registered 37 stolen bases in 42 career attempts.
In the Bulldogs' national championship season of 2019, Hernandez hit .367, stole 17 bases, and scored 30 runs. She posted an on-base percentage of .451.
Hernandez was a First-Team All-SCAC selection in 2019. Last season, Hernandez helped lead the Bulldogs to their sixth-straight SCAC Softball Championship.
Hernandez was a four-time member of the SCAC Spring Academic Honor Roll, and she made the TLU President's List in all eight of her collegiate semesters.
Hernandez was a TLU Chemistry Grant award recipient in 2019, and she was the secretary of the TLU Black & Gold President's Council for the 2019-20 academic year. She also served on the TLU Campus Activity Board, as a TLU Peer Mentor, as an organic chemistry research assistant, and as secretary and president of the TLU Pre-Health Professions Club.
Conference offices will select up to two nominees each from their pool of member school nominees. All nominees who compete in a sport not sponsored by their school's primary conference, as well as associate conference nominees and independent nominees, will be considered by a selection committee. Then, the Woman of the Year selection committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will choose the Top 30 honorees — 10 from each division.
From the Top 30, the Woman of the Year selection committee will determine the top three honorees in each division and announce nine finalists. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics then will choose the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year, who will be named this fall.