Indianapolis, IN - A record 147 NCAA female student-athletes have been named 2015 Woman of the Year honorees by conferences and independent schools. These honorees, selected from a record
480 school nominees, represent college athletes from 18 different sports spanning all three NCAA divisions. Of those recognized, 57 honorees competed in Division I, 39 in Division II and
51 in Division III.
In addition to Beikirch, the 480 overall nominees from all three NCAA Divisions included
Julianne Tierney and Caitlynn Webber of St. Joseph's-Long Island.
The Woman of the Year selection committee will next select the top 10 honorees in each division. These top 30 honorees will be announced in early September. The selection committee will then choose and announce the nine finalists (three from each division) at the end of September. The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics will cast votes among the nine finalists to determine the 2015 Woman of the Year.
The top 30 will be honored and the 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year will be named at the annual ceremony in Indianapolis on Oct. 18.
Now in its 25th year, the NCAA Woman of the Year Award recognizes graduating female student-athletes for excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership.
The first-ever three-time Academic All-American in school history, Beikirch batted .397 this spring with eight doubles, two triples, and three home runs, while combining for a .578 slugging percentage in 2015. She was also a perfect 12-12 on stolen bases with 34 starts this year. She earned Skyline Conference Second Team Honors as a catcher and was named to the 2015 NFCA All-Region Third Team. She is the program's only four-time All-Conference selection. She was also named the 2014-2015 Sage Female Co-Athlete of the Year after earning a selection as the 2015 team's Gator of the Year as the squad's Most Valuable Player.
Beikirch helped to rewrite the Sage softball record book during her outstanding career. She is the program's career stolen base leader with 65, while also leading the Gators with her 166 runs scored. She also became the all-time career hit leader this past spring and finishes with 221 hits. She played in a program-best 158 games with 158 starts. She ranks first at Sage in most at-bats (534) as well as total bases (327), while standing No. 2 in doubles (37), No. 4 in triples (9), No. 2 in home runs (17), and No. 3 in RBI's (85). She owns a .414 career batting average as well in her time as a Gator with a .612 career slugging percentage. She was honored in the fall of 2014 as the 2013-2014 ECAC Division III Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, becoming the first Sage softball player honored with the award.
A biology and pre-medicine major at Sage, she graduated on May 16 with Summa Cum Laude honors after attaining a 3.95 grade point average. A Deans' List student every semester, she is a four-time Skyline Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll selection and was a Kellas Scholar at Sage. She also minored in Chemistry, Psychology, and Spanish, and earned an Honors Degree. She was also named to the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, the TriBeta Honor Society, the Psi Chi Honor Society, and the Athenian Honor Society for academic achievement at Russell Sage College. She also earned the McMorran Biology Award at graduation. She garnered second-team Academic All-America distinction in 2015.
Beikirch will be attending Albany Medical College in the fall to obtain a medical degree with intentions to go into pediatrics, potentially primary care pediatrics.
NCAA Conference Nominees