Madeline Murphy (Cresson, Pa./Bishop Carroll), a member of the women's track and field team, has been nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year by Saint Francis University. She is of four student-athletes from the Northeast Conference (NEC), including women's lacrosse goalkeeper Elyssa Enrique (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover), 619 female student-athletes in the NCAA among the three divisions and 264 NCAA Division I nominees.
Since 1991, The NCAA Woman of the Year program has recognized graduating female student-athletes for excellence in academics, athletics, community service, and leadership throughout their college careers. This year's nominees represent a diverse set of well-rounded student-athletes, with 24 different sports across all three NCAA divisions. Conference offices can recognize two nominees if at least one is a woman of color or an international student-athlete. All nominees who compete in a sport not sponsored by their school's primary conference, as well as associate conference nominees and independent nominees, will be placed in a separate pool to be considered by a selection committee. The NEC will announce its selection(s) on Monday, July 24 to move onto the next round.
Murphy was named the 2023 NEC Outdoor Track and Field Performer of the Meet for the jumps and the Most Valuable Performer after winning both the long (5.99m) and triple jump (12.69). The senior, who broke the program record and a 17-year-old conference championship record in the triple jump, placed fifth in the triple jump (12.45m) at the IC4A/ECAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships and 39th (12.28m) at the NCAA East Preliminary Round. Murphy, who owns the school record for long (5.63m) and triple jump (12.00m) for both the indoor and outdoor seasons, also won both events at the indoor championships and was named Track and Field Performer for jumps at that meet.
A five-time conference champion, Murphy also won the triple jump (12.47m), while finishing second in the long jump (5.42m) at the 2022 NEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships and placed second in the triple jump (12.11m) at the 2021 NEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships to finish her career with seven conference medals.
Along with her NEC crowns, the local product produced a total of 25 wins in her collegiate career despite missing the 2021 indoor season due to the cancelation of the season because of COVID-19. Murphy won the long jump nine times (seven outdoor and two indoor) and the triple jump 16 times (11 outdoor and five indoor) in her career. In her last two outdoor seasons, she won the triple jump on 11 of the 14 competitions she entered including winning all six competitions as a junior. Murphy finished fifth at the IC4A/ECAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the triple jump twice in her career and 12th at the 2022 Indoor IC4A/ECAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships
A biology major, she registered a 3.83 grade point average and graduated in May. Murphy was named to the Dean's List every semester and the President's List in her last three semesters. Along with being named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District team, she was recently named United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic. She joined Kappa Mu Epsilon in 2022 and volunteered at the Cambria Care Center nursing home.
The Woman of the Year Selection Committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will choose the Top 30 honorees — 10 from each division — from the conference-level nominees. The Top 30 honorees will be announced in October. The selection committee will then determine the top three honorees in each division from the Top 30, and the nine finalists will be announced in November. From those nine finalists, the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will choose the 2023 NCAA Woman of the Year. The honorees will be celebrated at the Woman of the Year Award Ceremony at the NCAA Convention in Phoenix in January.
