Arizona’s Delaney Schnell Named Pac-12 Woman of the Year; In Contention for NCAA Honor
Arizona diver Delaney Schnell has been selected Pac-12 Woman of the Year for the 2022-23 athletics season, the Conference office announced Wednesday.
The Pac-12 Woman of the Year Award honors graduating student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, community service and leadership. Schnell is Arizona’s record seventh winner of the award, which began in 2006, and sixth from the Wildcats’ swimming & diving program, joining Margo Geer (swimming; 2015), Brigetta Barrett (track & field; 2013), Annie Chandler (swimming; 2011), Justine Schluntz (
Schnell, as well as Oregon State track & field and cross country’s Grace Fetherstonhaug
DELANEY SCHNELL
Schnell, a Tucson native, has had a decorated career at both the international and collegiate levels. In her five seasons at Arizona, she has accumulated three Pac-12 Diver of the Year awards (’21, ’22, ’23), six Pac-12 Diving Championship titles and holds Arizona program records in all three diving events and the Conference record in platform diving. This season Schnell won her first NCAA title in the platform dive. The 12-time All-American has earned three FINA World Championships medals (one silver, two bronze) and made history at the Tokyo Olympics when she took home America’s first-ever medal in the Women’s Synchronized 10-Meter Platform (silver).
The 2023 Pac-12 Women’s Swimming and Diving Scholar Athlete of the Year, Schnell completed her undergraduate degree in psychological sciences with a 3.815 GPA and her master’s in clinical speech and pathology with a 4.00 GPA. Her academic prowess earned her two College Sports Communicators First Team Academic All-America honors and six CSCAA Scholar All-Academic honors, along with multiple Arizona Dean’s List and Academic Distinction awards.
An active member of both Tucson and the greater diving community, Schnell has volunteered her time and her skills to multiple community programs such as collaborating with the University’s Team IMPACT, a program that allows college athletes to partners with children with chronic illnesses. The Wildcat has also partnered with local Girl Scout troops as well as local Boys and Girls Clubs in an attempt to give back to her growing community.
GRACE FETHERSTONHAUGH
Fetherstonhaugh (Westminster, B.C.) captured 2023 Pac-12 Women’s Track Athlete of the Year honors after doubling as league champion in the 3000m steeplechase and 5000m. She made history winning the Beavers’ first two individual Conference titles in program history and became Oregon State’s first-ever student-athlete or coach to win a Pac-12 postseason award in track & field. Fetherstonhaugh went on to earn First Team All-America honors after a sixth-place finish in the steeple at the NCAA Outdoor Championships this past June. She helped the Beavers to a fourth-place finish in the distance medley relay at the 2022 NCAA Indoor Championships and has toed the line for Oregon State three times at the NCAA Cross Country Championships.
The 2023 Oregon State Female Scholar Athlete of the Year, Fetherstonhaugh has been named to the Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll 11 times across her career in cross country and track & field and has engaged in a number of campus and community service initiatives. She has served as a student intern for Oregon State’s Student-Athlete Development office and also coached track & field and basketball for Special Olympics Oregon. Fetherstonhaugh was an Undergraduate Research Ambassador for the Office of Undergraduate Research, Scholarship, and the Arts at Oregon State and also served as a Mentor for Women and Minorities in Science. She graduated with her degree in Sociology with a minor in Business, and is now completing a Master’s in College Student Services Administration.
Eligible female student-athletes are nominated by their schools, then each conference office reviews the nominations from its members and submits a conference nominee to the NCAA. The Woman of the Year Selection Committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will then select 10 student-athletes from each division, determining the Top 30 honorees to be announced in September. Of the Top 30, the Woman of the Year Selection Committee will announce nine finalists, three from each NCAA division. The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics will review the finalists and name the 2023 NCAA Woman of the Year.
At January’s NCAA Convention in Phoenix, the national Top 30 honorees will be celebrated, and the NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced.
Four student-athletes from the Pac-12 have won the prestigious NCAA Woman of the Year award: Justine Schluntz (2010), Lacey Nymeyer (2009), Whitney Myers (2007), and Tanya Jones (1994). All four were student-athletes at the University of Arizona.
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