Three Gators - Kelly Barnhill (fifth from left), Belinda Woolcock (right of Barnhill) and Alex McMurtry (far right) were in Los Angeles for Monday evening's Collegiate Women Sports Award show.
Trio of Gators in L.A. for 2017 Honda Sports Award ceremony
Monday, June 26, 2017 | Gymnastics, Softball, Women's Tennis
A quarter of the finalists for the 2016-17 Honda Cup for the nation’s top collegiate female athlete were Gators - Kelly Barnhill (softball), Alex McMurtry (gymnastics) and Belinda Woolcock (tennis).
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Collegiate Women Sports Award presented by Honda went to Stanford swimmer Katie Ledecky Monday evening in a nationally televised show on CBS Sports Network. She is the first freshmen to claim the title of top female collegiate athlete since Florida swimmer Tracy Caulkins claimed her first of two honors in 1982.
The Collegiate Women Sports Award brings the 12 student-athlete who represent the top in NCAA-sanctioned sport to Los Angeles. The 12 are narrowed to three finalists. This year, the three finalists were: Stewart, Kelsey Plum (Washington/basketball) and Kendell Williams (Georgia/track & field).
A quarter of the 12 Honda Sport Award winners were Gators and all three were in Los Angeles for Monday's award show. Florida's three representatives – Kelly Barnhill (softball), Alex McMurtry (gymnastics) and Belinda Woolcock (tennis) – equals the largest number from a single school in the award's 41-year history. Since 1978, a Gator has claimed 22 Honda Sport Awards.
One Gator has twice been named the top collegiate female athlete of the year. Gator Great swimmer Tracy Caulkins shared the 1983-84 Broderick Cup (previous name of award) with Southern California's Cheryl Miller and won as a freshman in 1981-82.
How the Three Gators got to L.A.:
After the conclusion of each of the 12 recognized sport seasons, the Honda Sport Award sends a ballot with four sport finalists to administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools. Each NCAA member institution has a vote.
Here's what the Gators named the best in their sport accomplished in 2017:
Kelly Barnhill
Alex McMurtry
Belinda Woolcock
Honda Contributes to Each School:
American Honda Motor Co., Inc., sponsor of the program, celebrates each nominee by donating $5,000 to each Honda Sports Award recipient school and $1,000 to each nominee school.
Visit The Collegiate Women Sports Awards website for more information about this award.
| 2016-17 Honda Sports Award Recipients | |||
| Each season, The Collegiate Women Sports Awards program recognizes the top collegiate female student-athlete in 12 sports. |
|||
| Sport | Sport | Sport | Sport |
| Basketball | Kelsey Plum | SR | Washington |
| Cross Country | Karissa Schweizer | JR | Missouri |
| Field Hockey | Greta Nauck | SO | Delaware |
| Golf | Monica Vaughn | SR | Arizona State |
| Gymnastics | Alex McMurtry | JR | Florida |
| Lacrosse | Zoe Stukenberg | SR | Maryland |
| Soccer | Kadeisha Buchanan | SR | West Virginia |
| Softball | Kelly Barnhill | SO | Florida |
| Swimming/Diving | Katie Ledecky* | FR | Stanford |
| Tennis | Belinda Woolcock | SR | Florida |
| Track & Field | Kendell Williams | SR | Georgia |
| Volleyball | Inky Ajanaku | RS-SR | Stanford |
| *Honda Cup winner | |||
A quarter of the 12 Honda Sport Award winners were Gators and all three were in Los Angeles for Monday's award show. Florida's three representatives – Kelly Barnhill (softball), Alex McMurtry (gymnastics) and Belinda Woolcock (tennis) – equals the largest number from a single school in the award's 41-year history. Since 1978, a Gator has claimed 22 Honda Sport Awards.
One Gator has twice been named the top collegiate female athlete of the year. Gator Great swimmer Tracy Caulkins shared the 1983-84 Broderick Cup (previous name of award) with Southern California's Cheryl Miller and won as a freshman in 1981-82.
How the Three Gators got to L.A.:
After the conclusion of each of the 12 recognized sport seasons, the Honda Sport Award sends a ballot with four sport finalists to administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools. Each NCAA member institution has a vote.
Here's what the Gators named the best in their sport accomplished in 2017:
Kelly Barnhill
- 2017 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year
- 2017 espnW Player of the Year
- 2017 CoSIDA Academic All-America first team
- NFCA All-American First Team
- SEC Pitcher of the Year
- All-Southeastern Conference first team
- SEC Pitcher of the Week – 5x (2/20, 4/11, 4/18, 4/25, 5/2)
- USA Softball Co-Player of the Week – (4/18)
- Louisville Slugger/NFCA Pitcher of the Week – (4/18)
- ESPNW Player of the Week – (4/18)
- Led final NCAA statistics in ERA (0.51) and strikeouts per seven innings (13.0)
- Ranked second for hits allowed per seven innings (2.86) & third nationally in shutouts (13) and total strikeouts (359)
Alex McMurtry
- NCAA all-around champion with NCAA semifinal record total (39.8125)
- NCAA co-uneven bars champion
- Matched NCAA Championships' record with a 10.0 bars routine in NCAA Super Six team final
- Only gymnast at 2017 NCAA Championships to earn All-America first-team honors on each of the five events
- NCAA Elite 90 winner with a 4.0 GPA
- SEC Gymnast and Scholar-Athlete of Year – second in league history to take both honors in same season
- CoSIDA Academic All-America first-team
- 2017 NACGC Southeast Region Gymnast of the Year
- SEC Championships' all-around champion and shared floor exercise title
- One of two gymnasts in nation to post 10.0 marks in three events in 2017 – vault, bars and floor
- Led UF with 24 event wins in 2017
Belinda Woolcock
- Most Outstanding Player of the 2017 NCAA Tennis Championships
- Helped Florida to seventh NCAA team title
- 2017 NCAA DI Singles runner-up
- 2017 NCAA Championships All-Tournament Team for singles & doubles
- 2017 ITA Regional Senior Player of the Year
- Final ITA season-high ranking: No. 5
- First-team All-Southeastern Conference for singles & doubles
- Played No. 1 singles in every dual match after having played the top spot only once in her career prior to this year, earning a 23-11 season record (16-8 versus ranked opponents)
- SEC Academic Honor Roll for third straight season
- Received bachelor's degree in sports management from University of Florida in April of 2017
| Gator Honda Sports Award Recipients | ||
| Name | Sport | Year |
| Kelly Barnhill | Softball | 2017 |
| Alex McMurtry | Gymnastics | 2017 |
| Belinda Woolcock | Tennis | 2017 |
| Bridget Sloan | Gymnastics | 2016 |
| Lauren Haeger | Softball | 2015 |
| Kytra Hunter | Gymnastics | 2015 |
| Bridget Sloan | Gymnastics | 2013 |
| Kytra Hunter | Gymnastics | 2012 |
| Kelsey Bruder | Softball | 2011 |
| Caroline Burckle | Swimming | 2008 |
| Danielle Fotopoulos | Soccer | 1998 |
| Jill Craybas | Tennis | 1996 |
| Nicole Haislett | Swimming | 1994 |
| Lisa Raymond | Tennis | 1993 |
| Lisa Raymond | Tennis | 1992 |
| Shaun Stafford | Tennis | 1988 |
| Page Dunlap | Golf | 1986 |
| Tracy Caulkins | Swimming | 1984^ |
| Tracy Caulkins | Swimming | 1983 |
| Tracy Caulkins | Swimming | 1982^ |
| Ann Woods | Gymnastics | 1982 |
| Renee Laravie | Swimming | 1978 |
| ^Recipient of Broderick Award (previous name of Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year Award |
||
American Honda Motor Co., Inc., sponsor of the program, celebrates each nominee by donating $5,000 to each Honda Sports Award recipient school and $1,000 to each nominee school.
Visit The Collegiate Women Sports Awards website for more information about this award.
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Softball
AA
/ Gymnastics
AA
/ Gymnastics
/ Women's Tennis
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