Women's Track and Field | 6/21/2016 2:45:00 PM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- Recent Illinois Wesleyan University graduate Jill Harmon is the school's nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year award, honoring graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in academics, athletics, service and leadership.

This pool of 517 student-athletes nominated by NCAA member schools marks the largest in the 26-year history of the award with 169 coming from Division III.  A total of 231 competed in Division I and 117 competed in Division II athletics. The nominees represent 21 different women's sports, and 127 of the nominees competed in more than one sport in college.

As a senior, Harmon finished third in both the heptathlon and triple jump in the NCAA Division III outdoor championships and was a three-time indoor All-American as she finished fourth in the pentathlon, sixth in triple jump and seventh in 60 meter hurdles at the NCAA Division III indoor championships.

She was named "Field Athlete of the Meet" at the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin outdoor championships as she won the heptathlon and triple jump, was second in the 100 hurdles and third in the long jump. She was chosen as IWU's "Most Valuable Performer" and earned all-conference at the CCIW indoor meet with her first place finishes in the triple jump and pentathlon and second place efforts in the 60 meter hurdles and long jump.

Harmon, who was IWU's female winner of the CCIW Merle Chapman Leadership Award, was elected to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 7 team for track and field and is on the ballot for Academic All-American ®. She had a 3.59 grade-point average as a mathematics major.

The NCAA encourages member schools to honor their top graduating female student-athletes each year by submitting their names for consideration for the Woman of the Year award.
Next, conferences assess their member school nominees and select up to two conference nominees.
The Woman of the Year selection committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will then choose the top 30 honorees – 10 from each division. From the top 30, the selection committee determines the top three honorees from each division and announces the nine finalists in September. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics then chooses from among those nine to determine the 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year.
The top 30 honorees will be celebrated and the 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year winner will be announced at the annual award ceremony Oct. 16 in Indianapolis.