Nicole Plante Named 2007 NCAA Woman of the Year
Conference Nominee

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

For Immediate Release:

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South Easton, Mass. – The Northeast-10 Conference Senior Women Administrator (SWA) Council selected University of Massachusetts Lowell student-athlete Nicole Plante (North Adams, Mass.) as the NCAA Woman of the Year Conference Nominee.

“Nicole has been an essential part to our cross country program as she helped build the program to where it is today, said UMass Lowell head coach Gary Gardner. “She is a tremendous student that has worked hard in her major (Nursing) by doing volunteer work in nursing homes and clinics. Nicole is the complete package of a student-athlete. She is a great example of what a student-athlete exemplifies.”

Plante capped her career at UMass Lowell by winning the NCAA Division II National Championship in the 10,000 meters. She became the first-ever outdoor track and field national champion in school history.

During her tenure at UMass Lowell, Plante excelled on the track as well as in the classroom. She was an eight-time NCAA All-American in cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field, along with being a six-time Division II Northeast Region Runner of the Year in cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field.

The former Northeast-10 freshman of the year also compiled a number of conference honors. Plante was the Northeast-10 Athlete of the Year in cross country (2006) and the Northeast-10 Individual Champion in Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field (2005-2007). Along with her accomplishments on the track, Plante received honors for her accomplishments in the classroom. She was named to the Northeast-10 All-Academic teams for Track & Field and Cross Country (2005-2007) as well as being named an USTFCCCA Academic All-American (2005-2006). Plante was named All-New England (top six finisher in New England, Division I, II and III combined) in indoor and outdoor track & field (2005-2007).

Plante has also been awarded the UMass Lowell Student-Athlete Award (2004-2007) and was the recipient of the UMass Lowell Cushing Award this year as the top female athlete along with the UMass Lowell Laurie Mann Award which is awarded to the female student-athlete who exemplifies athletic, academic and service excellence.

The NCAA Woman of the Year award honors senior student-athletes for their collective collegiate achievements in service, leadership, athletics and academics. The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics (CWA) receive nominations from each conference which selects a conference nominee based on the criteria above.

All conference nominees are then forwarded to the Woman of the Year selection committee in which then the committee will select the top 10 winners in each division. From among those 30 honorees, the selection committee will determine the top three in each division. Finally, the members of the CWA will vote from among the top nine to determine the 2007 NCAA Woman of the Year.

Sponsoring 23 championship sports and 15 full-time members, the Northeast-10 is the second largest NCAA Division II athletic conference in the nation and sponsors the most championships of any Division II conference.