Nicole Plante Named 2007 NCAA Woman of the
Year
Conference Nominee
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
For Immediate Release:
[Click Here For Full
Release]
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.