RICHARDSON, Texas –– Hardin-Simmons University senior soccer student-athlete and national champion Amy Kuykendall has been selected as the American Southwest Conference nominee for the 2011 NCAA Woman of the Year ballot, the league office announced Thursday (June 9) following a vote of the conference Senior Woman Administrators.

Kuykendall (Weatherford, TX / WHS) will join nominees from Division I, II and III conferences on the NCAA Woman of the Year (WOTY) ballot. In its 21st year, the WOTY award honors graduating student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics manages the nomination and selection process.

Kuykendall is the all-time leading scorer in ASC women’s soccer history, a first-team All-American, a first-team Academic All-American by CoSIDA and a scholar All-American by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. She led HSU to the 2010 NCAA championship, while posting a 3.98 GPA as an accounting major. Kuykendall was also in the HSU honors and leadership programs.

“In understanding the effect which we have on each other, my time as a student-athlete at Hardin-Simmons University richly shaped my life,” Kuykendall said. “In competing side by side to achieve the same goal and sacrificing so much of ourselves for each other, my teammates and I discovered some of life’s most important lessons: preparation, accountability, patience, courage, perseverance and humility. With help and support from coaches, classmates, and professors I learned how to live a balanced life, to manage precious time, and to actively seek challenging tasks, finding one can always handle more than previously thought possible.”

Kuykendall earned All-ASC and academic all-ASC honors a rare four times. She never lost a game in conference play and was part of five ASC titles (she tore her ACL in the first ASC game of her sophomore year). The Cowgirls were 96-8-11 in her five years.

Kuykendall scored 76 career goals, had 46 career assists and 198 points. She had 18 game-winning goals in her career. She is HSU’s Division III era leader in points, goals, shots, game played and games started, and is second in assists. She was an All-American after her freshman season and again after leading the Cowgirls to the NCAA title as a senior.

“In winning a national championship, my friends and I accomplished our ultimate goal together,” Kuykendall said. “Yet, more important were the lessons learned that will eventually be applied as we seek new goals and aspirations in our individual lives. Today, because of the remarkable effect that teammates, classmates, and others had on me, I am ready to confidently step into the world to seek continual improvement and pursue new life goals.”

The ultimate competitor, Kuykendall fought back from two ACL surgeries in her career, had her had busted open in the NCAA quarterfinals and spent eight hours in the hospital between the NCAA semifinals and finals with severe dehydration. Every time she bounced back with a resilient determination to get back on the field that is unparalleled.

Kuykendall was also an active member in a variety of on and off campus service organizations and won numerous awards for her academic success as an accounting major at HSU.

The WOTY selection committee will choose in August the top 10 winners in Division s I, II and III. From among those 30 honorees, the committee will determine in September the top three in each division with the 2011 NCAA Woman of the Year honoree chosen from the final nine candidates. The top 10 division winners, nine finalists and award recipient will be honored on October 16, 2011 at the Woman of the Year Award celebration in Indianapolis.

NOTES: Former Hardin-Simmons volleyball standouts Kaela Parnell (2010) and Virginia Aguilar (2007) were finalists for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award. . . . . Hardin-Simmons has had five of the ASC’s seven all-time nominees for NCAA WOTY: Kuykendall, Parnell, Aguilar, Ashley Huston (2009) and April Johnson (2006). . . . Three ASC institutions submitted nominees for consideration this year. In addition to Kuykendall, the field included Texas-Dallas volleyball student-athlete Jessica Nassau and basketball student-athlete Tarniesha Scott, and Texas-Tyler softball student-athlete Whitney Wyly. Each carried better than a 3.50 cumulative grade-point average for their collegiate career.

ASC’s All-Time Nominees
for NCAA Women of the Year
2011             Amy Kuykendall, Sr., Hardin-Simmons (Soccer)
2010             Kaela Parnell, Sr., Hardin-Simmons (Volleyball)
2009             Ashley Huston, Sr., Hardin-Simmons (Track and Field)
2008             Michelle Heckmann, Sr., Concordia Texas (Volleyball)
                           Tarra Richardson, Sr., McMurry (Basketball)
2007             Virginia Aguilar, Sr., Hardin-Simmons (Volleyball)
2006             April Johnson, Sr., Hardin-Simmons (Soccer)