Knapton Finalist for NCAA Honor

Nebraska 2021 Female Student-Athlete of the Year Abigail Knapton was named one of 30 finalists for the NCAA Woman of the Year award on Thursday, Sept. 23.
 
A six-time Husker diving All-American, and the 2021 Big Ten Diver of the Meet, Knapton was also Nebraska’s Best Female Athlete award winner across all sports in 2020-21. The Omaha Marian High School graduate became Nebraska’s first diver (or swimmer) to claim four first-team All-America awards in the same event (platform dive). She claimed Big Ten titles in both the platform and the one-meter dive, while adding a runner-up finish at the 2021 Big Ten Championships.
 
A four-time first-team CSCAA Scholar All-American, Knapton also captured first-team CoSIDA Academic All-America honors as a fifth-year senior in 2021. Nebraska’s Big Ten Medal of Honor award winner, she was a four-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and a four-time Academic All-Big Ten selection while being named one of Nebraska’s Outstanding Scholars in 2021. The psychology major who earned her bachelor’s degree from Nebraska in May of 2021, was also a five-time member of the Tom Osborne Citizenship Team.
 
Knapton advanced to the collection of 30 finalists from a pool of 535 school nominees that was narrowed to 154 by conference offices. The Top 30 honorees include 10 from each of the three NCAA divisions. All have demonstrated excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership. The honorees represent 12 sports and an array of academic majors.

Nebraska’s most recent NCAA Woman of the Year award winner was track and field student-athlete Angela Mercurio in 2019.

 

Established in 1991, the NCAA Woman of the Year award is rooted in Title IX and recognizes graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their NCAA eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their collegiate careers.

“We are thrilled to recognize the 30 honorees selected this year,” said John Kietzmann, chair of the selection committee and associate director of athletics for marketing at Metropolitan State University of Denver. “These women excelled in the classroom and competition, while still prioritizing serving their peers and communities despite the challenges they faced during the pandemic. They represent the thousands of women competing in college sports each year, and we congratulate them for their incredible achievements.”

The selection committee will determine the top three honorees in each division from the Top 30, and the nine finalists will be announced this fall. From those nine finalists, the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics will choose the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year.

On Tuesday, Nov. 9, during a virtual awards ceremony, the Top 30 honorees will be celebrated, and the NCAA Woman of the Year will be named.