University of Minnesota Duluth track and field standout Amelia Maher is among a record 147 NCAA female-student-athletes who have been named 2015 Woman of the Year honorees by conferences and independent schools.

These honorees, selected from the record 480 school nominees, represent college athletes from 18 different sports spanning all three NCAA divisions. Of those recognized, 57 honorees competed in Division I, 39 competed in Division II and 51 competed in Division III. The Woman of the Year selection committee will next select the top 10 honorees in each division. These top 30 honorees will be announced in early September.  The selection committee will then choose and announce the top nine finalists (three from each division) at the end of September. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will vote from amongst those nine finalists to determine the 2015 Woman of the Year.
The top 30 honorees will be honored and the 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year will be named at the annual ceremony in Indianapolis on Oct. 18.

Maher, a native of Sauk Centre, Minn., graduated this past May with a B.A. degree in psychology and did so with a cumulative grade point average of 3.92. In 2014-15, she was the recipient of UMD's Top Female Scholar-Athlete Award, earned a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Myles Brand All-Academic with Distinction Award and was UMD's nominee for that conference's Willis R. Kelly Scholar-Athlete Award. In addition to qualifying for the College of Liberal Arts Dean's List all eight of her semesters at UMD, the 2015 Bulldog team captain qualified for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team in both 2013-14 and 2014-15 and was a three-time NSIC All-Academic Team honoree.

Maher took part in a pair of events (heptathlon and high jump) at the 2015 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships and was the top individual point-producer at the 2015 NSIC outdoor meet as well. As a junior, she captured the NSIC indoor pentathlon title en route to qualifying for NCAA II Indoore Championships. Maher, who also was the 2014 NSIC indoor and outdoor high jump titleholder, currently owns two Bulldog track and field records -- the indoor 200-meter dash and outdoor 4 x 100 relay.

Now in its 25^th year, the NCAA Woman of the Year award recognizes graduating female student-athletes for excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership.

2015 NCAA Woman of the Year Conference Honorees