Kristin Day, a former diver for Division II Clarion University, was selected as the 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year, making her the first diver to be honored and the eighth aquatic sports athlete to receive the honor since the NCAA began the award in 1991.
Day represented Clarion on the diving board, and has her name in the record books to prove it. She scored a record 539.35 points on the 3-meter springboard at last spring’s NCAA championships to win the national title. In 2014 and 2015, she also won the 1-meter competition and was named the 2014 Division II Diver of the Year. She earned a degree in chemistry with a 4.0 grade point average, and won the Elite 89 Award in 2014.
“I entered Clarion University to dive and took up the study of biochemistry, in which I studied with the same fervor that I approached my training in diving,” Day said in her statement when announced as a finalist. “My desire to study the mysteries of the human body have led me to seek a career path in medicine. My training in diving has taught me to keep a positive attitude in the face of adversity and has given me the attributes to prepare me for the upcoming challenges.”
Day was one of three aquatic sports athletes named among the three finalists for the award. Arizona’s NCAA champion swimmer Margo Geer and Swarthmore swimmer Supriya Davis were in contention for the award.
Previous aquatic sports athletes named NCAA Woman of the Year (all swimmers):
1997: Lisa Coole, Georgia
2000: Kristy Kowal, Georgia
2001: Kim Black, Georgia
2007: Whitney Myers, Arizona
2009: Lacey Nymeyer, Arizona
2010: Justine Schluntz, Arizona
2011: Laura Barito, Stevens Institute of Technology