Women's Basketball

Six Nominated For NCAA Woman of the Year Award

Official NCAA Release

MADISON, Wis.--Six Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) individuals have been nominated for the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
 
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse’s Danielle Craig (Coralville, Iowa/Iowa City West); UW-Oshkosh’s Baylee Tkaczuk (Channahon, Ill./Minooka); UW-Platteville’s Johanna Meister (Darlington, Wis.); UW-Stevens Point’s April Gehl (Hilbert, Wis.); UW-Stout’s Jessica DuVal (Logan, Iowa/Harlan Community) and UW-Whitewater’s Sara Klimisch (Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Indian Trail) were nominated for the award that honors the academic achievements, athletics excellence, community service and leadership of graduating female college athletes from all three divisions.
 
To be eligible, a nominee must have competed and earned a varsity letter in an NCAA-sponsored sport, must have completed eligibility in her primary sport, and must have earned her undergraduate degree by Summer 2020. There are 605 nominees, including 220 from NCAA Division III, for the award that is in its 30th year.
 
Craig was a member of the basketball team and maintained a 3.40 grade point average, while majoring in exercise and sports science with a concentration in coaching competitive athletics. After transferring from California State University-Fullerton, she secured All-WIAC first team recognition the last two seasons after collecting honorable mention recognition in 2018. This year, Craig also earned a spot on the D3hoops.com All-Central Region Third Team, received UW-La Crosse’s Offensive Player of the Year honor and was recognized as UW-La Crosse’s Female Co-Athlete of the Year. She ranks first in program history with 161 career three-point field goals made and second with 433 career three-point field goals attempted.
 
Tkaczuk was a member of the gymnastics squad and majored in psychology and pre-med, and sustained a 3.65 grade point average. She received the 2020 WIAC Judy Kruckman Women’s Gymnastics Scholar-Athlete Award and the 2020 National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) All-America in Academics Award. Earlier this year, Tkaczuk was one of 125 representatives from the State to serve as a Presenter for Research at the State Capital. She was named to the Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association Scholastic All-American Team in 2017 and 2019. Tkaczuk helped UW-Oshkosh win the 2020 WIAC Championship/NCGA West Regional and secured a spot on the NCGA All-West Regional Championship Team, as well as the NCGA Regular Season All-American squad. She claimed NCGA championships in the uneven bars in 2017 and 2018, and won the WIAC title in the balance beam in 2017. In 2020, Tkaczuk was selected UW-Oshkosh’s Female Outstanding Athlete of the Year and the NCGA Outstanding Senior of the Year.
 
Meister competed on the cross country and indoor and outdoor track & field teams. She boasted a 3.88 grade point average and majored in mechanical engineering with a minor in Spanish. Meister received the WIAC Judy Kruckman Scholar-Athlete Award in cross country in 2018 and outdoor track & field in 2020. She secured a spot on the 2020 NCAA Division III Academic All-District® Six Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country First Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). She won the 800-meter run at the WIAC Outdoor Championship in 2019 and finished second in the 1,500-meter run to secure All-Midwest Region distinction from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Association in both events. Meister was selected UW-Platteville’s Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the 2018-19 academic year.
 
Gehl was a member of the volleyball team and majored in interpersonal organizational communication with a 3.66 grade point average. She was named to the 2019 NCAA Division III Academic All-District® Six Women’s Volleyball First Team, as selected by CoSIDA, and received the 2020 Chancellor’s Leadership Award from UW-Stevens Point. Gehl accumulated a NCAA Division III-leading 675 kills and 1,853 attacks during the 2019 season as she earned American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-America First Team honors, AVCA Midwest Region Player of the Year recognition and WIAC Offensive Player of the Year distinction. In 2018, Gehl received All-America Second Team honors, All-Midwest Region First Team plaudits and All-WIAC First Team recognition. In 2017, she was an All-WIAC First Team pick and All-Midwest Region Honorable Mention selection. Gehl owns the school record with 1,900 career kills and the conference single-match record with 96 attacks against UW-Whitewater on Nov. 1, 2019. She was selected UW-Stevens Point’s Athlete of the Year for a female team sport during the 2018-19 and 2019-20 academic years.
 
DuVal competed on the volleyball squad and boasted a 3.99 grade point average. She majored in applied science with a concentration in interdisciplinary science and minor in human physiology. DuVal was selected UW-Stout’s Co-op Student of the Year in 2018 and 2019, and was the recipient of numerous academic scholarships. She secured a spot on the 2019 WIAC All-Sportsmanship Team.
 
A member of the soccer team, Klimisch maintained a 3.82 grade point average and majored in communication sciences and disorders with a minor in special education. She received the 2019 WIAC Judy Kruckman Women’s Soccer Scholar-Athlete Award. Klimisch served as a Presenter for the Innovative Minds Partnering to Advance Curative Therapies Research Symposium earlier this year. She secured All-WIAC First Team recognition in 2016 and 2019, and helped the Warhawks win conference regular-season and tournament titles both years. Klimisch received the team’s Marty van Steenderen Sportswoman of the Year Award in 2018 and 2019. She finished second in program history with 21 shutouts and fourth with a .826 save percentage.
 
Eligible female student-athletes are nominated by their member school. Each conference office then reviews the nominations from its core member schools (and sponsored sports) and submits its conference nominee(s) to the NCAA. Then, the NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee identifies the Top 30 – 10 from each division. The selection committee will determine the top three honorees in each division from the Top 30 and announce the nine finalists. From those nine finalists, the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics then will choose the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year.
 
All 30 Woman of the Year honorees will be recognized, and the 2020 Woman of the Year announced, on Nov. 1, 2020.
 
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