NCAA Woman of the Year Conference Nominees

RICHARDSON, Texas - University of Texas at Dallas graduate and softball standout Melissa Livermore will represent the American Southwest Conference on the 2019 NCAA Woman of the Year award ballot.

A total of 148 student-athletes chosen by NCAA conferences and a selection committee will advance as nominees for the 2019 NCAA Woman of the Year Award. The women were selected from a pool of 585 school nominees. The nominees represent college athletes from 20 sports spanning all three NCAA divisions. Of the nominees, 64 competed in Division I, 33 competed in Division II and 51 competed in Division III.

Livermore (Frisco, Texas) was selected by vote of the ASC Senior Woman Administrators from six women nominated by the conference member instittions for the national award.

The most-decorated UTD student-athlete in school history, Livermore became the first-ever Comet to be honored as the ASC Female Athlete of the Year (2018-19) after closing her celebrated career. A four-time All-America selection for the Comet softball program, she became the NCAA Division III all-time stolen base leader (195) as a senior en route to collecting first team All-America honors for the second time in her tenure.

The UT Dallas softball program's only four-time first team All-ASC performer, Livermore became the first-ever Comet to collect ASC Player of the Year accolades this past spring after hitting a league-best .481 with 41 steals.

Livermore completed her bachelor's degree in May 2019, sporting a 3.85 cumulative grade point average while majoring in healthcare studies. Livermore was a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-America honoree and was listed as Academic All-ASC since her sophomore campaign.
 
“Being a student-athlete has empowered me to be a leader both on the field and off it,” said Livermore. “Looking back at my career, it is easy to follow stats. However, the skills and abilities I gained being on an athletic team go far beyond any field. At a Division III university, the focus centers around the development of student-athletes into becoming well-rounded people that give back to the community."

Livermore was an member of the UT Dallas campus community, volunteering for several community service projects in addition to classwork and softball activities.
 
“It is amazing what Melissa accomplished over her four years at UTD, and to finish her career with an outstanding award as the conference Woman of the Year nominee is great,” said Comet head coach James Kling. “I am so proud of what Mel did both on and off the field, and know that she represents UTD and the ASC very well.”
 
UT Dallas Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Bill Petitt said Livermore will go down as the most decorated athlete in school history.

“Melissa played with grace and a team-first attitude," Petitt said. "Her legacy will be much more than on-the-field as her community service efforts and her role as a servant leader throughout the department will never be forgotten.”

Established in 1991, the NCAA Woman of the Year award honors graduating female college athletes who have distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their collegiate careers. All nominees have exhausted their collegiate eligibility.  A record 585 female student-athletes have been nominated by their institutions the 2019 award, with 192 from NCAA Division III institutions.

Other ASC women nominated for the 2019 award included Shelby Bergeron (Louisiana College), Savannah Freeman (McMurry), Kenne Kessler (Hardin-Simmons), Mullika Seekhieo (East Texas Baptist), and Lauren Whiting (Belhaven). Livermore is the sixth softball player and the second student-athlete from UT Dallas in ASC history to earn the conference nomination.

The NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee will choose the Top 30 honorees -- 10 from each division -- from among the conference nominees. The committee then determines the top three nominees from each division and announces the nine finalists in September. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics chooses from among those nine the 2019 NCAA Woman of the Year award recipient.

The Top 30 honorees will be celebrated and the 2019 NCAA Woman of the Year winner announced October 20 at the annual award ceremony in Indianapolis.

Courtesy of UT Dallas