Four ASC Students Nominated for 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year Award

Kelsie Batten (UTT), Jessica Johnson (LC), Kayla Jordan (UTD) and Kelly Jo McLendon (ETBU) have been nominated by their institutions for the 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year award.

7/14/2016 9:12:36 AM

ASC Woman of the Year Nominees

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. --- A record 517 female student-athletes - including four from American Southwest Conference member campuses - have been nominated by their institutions for the 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year award.

Now in its 26th year, the Woman of the Year award honors graduating female college athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in academics, athletics, service and leadership. All nominees have exhausted their collegiate eligibility.

Of the women nominated, 169 competed in Division III, including ASC student-athletes Kelsie Batten of the University of Texas at Tyler, Jessica Johnson of Louisiana College, Kayla Jordan of the University of Texas at Dallas and Kelly Jo McClendon of East Texas Baptist University. A total 231 nominees competed in Division I and 117 competed in Division II athletics.

Batten (Huntington, Texas / Huntington HS), a softball student-athlete and a member of the 2016 NCAA Division III national champion team, holds a bachelor's degree in marketing from Texas-Tyler. A four-time All-America Second-Team honoree, Batten was named the ASC Pitcher of the Year three times and was the NFCA/Schutt 2016 Division III Player of the Year. She was the Honda Athlete of the Year nominee in Division III softball. Batten was an active participant in campus, athletics and softball community service activities.

Recipient of the Louisiana College/ASC Scholar-Athlete Medal of Honor, Johnson (Deville, La. / Buckeye HS) earned her bachelor's degree in psychology, graduating summa cum laude. Johnson was named to the softball Distinguished Scholar-Athlete teams and three times earned Academic All-Conference honors. Johnson was active in numerous Louisiana College student organizations and community service activities. LC advanced to the ASC Softball Championship Tournament in each of Johnson's three seasons.

Jordan (Deer Park, Texas / Deer Park HS) led UT Dallas to the ASC volleyball championship and NCAA regional semifinal finish in her senior season (2015) while leading Division III in assists and claiming All-America Honorable Mention honors. Jordan was a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee with involvement in several community service activities. The 2015-16 UT Dallas/ASC Scholar-Athlete Medal of Honor recipient and UT Dallas Female Student-Athlete of the Year, Jordan graduated with a degree in computer science.

During her career, McClendon (Livingston, Texas / Livingston HS) directed East Texas Baptist to a pair of ASC softball championships (2013, 2016) and a top five finish in the 2014 NCAA finals. She was named the 2016 ASC championship most valuable player. McClendon holds both a bachelor's (education) and a master's (sports and exercise leadership) degree from ETBU, earning Dean's List and ASC All-Academic honors as an undergraduate. McClendon participated in numerous community service efforts at ETBU and was featured in NCAA Champion magazine for her work at Camp Blessing Texas.

The NCAA Woman of the Year award process begins with member institutions nominating a top graduating female student-athlete for consideration by its conference. Each conference determines its WOTY award candidate, forwarding its nominee to the Woman of the Year selection committee. The conference award nominees will be announced in late July.

The NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee will choose the top 30 honorees -- 10 from each division -- from the women nominated by their respective conferences. The committee will determine the top three nominees from each division and announce the nine finalists in September. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics then chooses from among those nine to determine the 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year.

The top 30 honorees will be celebrated and the 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year winner will be announced at the annual award ceremony October 16 in Indianapolis.

View the list of all student-athletes nominated by their institution.

View the NCAA Woman of the Year nominee release.

NCAA News contributed to this report.

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