June 19, 2015

INDIANAPOLIS, IND. – The NCAA announced school nominees for the national Woman of the Year award Friday afternoon. Fresh off her national championship in the high jump, Gamecock track and field senior Jeannelle Scheper was selected to represent South Carolina.

Scheper recently earned her first career national championship, the program’s first since 2010. It capped a year to remember for the St. Lucia native, who set a new program record in the high jump (1.96 meters) which still stands in the top five in the world for the 2015 season. In addition to her on-field exploits, Scheper recently graduated with a double major in economics and mathematics, and a minor in Spanish. She earned the SEC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and is preparing to begin her masters degree in economics from South Carolina’s Darla Moore School of Business.

For the last 25 years, NCAA member colleges and universities have had the option to nominate a graduating female college athlete who has exhausted her eligibility and distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in academics, athletics, service and leadership. This year, a record number of nominees – 480 in total from Division I, II and III – are on the ballot.

From here, conferences assess each nominee’s eligibility and select up to two conference nominees. All conference nominees are forwarded to the Woman of the Year selection committee, which chooses the top 30 honorees – 10 from each division.

From the top 30, the selection committee determines the top three nominees from each division and announces the top nine finalists in September. The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics then chooses from among those nine to determine the 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year.

The 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year winner will be announced, and the Top 30 honorees celebrated, at the annual award ceremony Oct. 18 in Indianapolis.