TicketsCINCINNATI - Juliana Madzia, a recent graduate of the University of Cincinnati and a member of the Bearcats cross country/track & field program, has received another honor as she has been nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award. Madzia is one of 11 women from all sports in the American Athletic Conference and one of a program-record 543 nominations nationally this year.
The award, which was begun in 1991, honors graduating female college student-athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service, and leadership throughout their collegiate careers. One of 229 Division I athletes that were nominated this year, Madzia will now wait and see if she is one of the two women selected by the Conference to move forward in the process. Those that are selected by their respective conferences are placed in a pool where the NCAA Woman of the Year committee will first select the Top 30 with 10 representatives from each of the three NCAA divisions. The committee will then reduce the pool of 30 candidates to a group of nine finalists in September with the selection of the NCAA Woman of the Year taking place October 22.
Madzia, while only a member of the Bearcats program for two years, made the most of her time as she was consistently the cross country team's top finisher including a 13th-place finish at the 2016 American Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships in West Chester, Ohio, a placement that garnered her all-conference honors, the first for the Bearcats women in their four years in the league. Her finish, along with another strong showing from her teammates, saw UC place sixth overall, the highest finish for the Bearcats since 2004 and their first single-digit finish in AAC competition.
The 2014 and 2015 Flying Pig Half Marathon champion before joining UC, Madzia also was a standout on the track as she finished her career holding the fifth-best time in the outdoor 10,000m run after she ran 17:15.93 at the 2017 AAC Outdoor Championships. All told during her career, she was part of a resurgence for the cross country program while also being part of four team trophies in track and field, including the 2016 and 2017 AAC Outdoor Championships and runners-up finishes at the 2016 and 2017 AAC Indoor Championships.
Academically, Madzia was among the best on campus as evidenced by the collection of honors and awards that accompanied her lengthy resume of clubs, programs, and other educational experiences. Madzia, who graduated from UC in April with a degree in neurobiology and a minor in women's, gender and sexuality studies, was recently accepted into the UC College of Medicine's Medical Science Training Program. For all her work, she was selected for a 2017 UC Presidential Leadership Medal of Excellence, the highest honor on campus given to graduating seniors that exemplify scholarship, leadership, character, service and the ideals of the University of Cincinnati. The first UC female student-athlete to earn the honor since its inception in 2002, Madzia's awards did not stop there as she was also a finalist for the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship, was named the female recipient of the American Athletic Conference's Commissioner's Postgraduate Leadership Award.
Madzia, who has been named to the Dean's List all eight semesters she has attended UC, also recently earned her second academic honor of the season from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) as she was voted to the CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team, making her one of just 15 women nationally selected to the highest list and the only woman from the AAC to earn a place on any of the three national teams. Earlier this spring, she was selected CoSIDA Academic All-District 5 First Team as well.
Several of the groups Madzia has been affiliated with during her time at UC have also benefited from her leadership as she was the founder of Cincinnati Students Invisible, co-president of the UC chapter of GlobeMed as well as the director of its Global Health Education group and vice president of the UC French Club. She also has traveled the globe to work on a study tour on HIV/AIDS in South Africa and work as a grass roots on-site intern with Social Action for Women in Mae Sot, Thailand.
// MORE ON THE NCAA WOMAN OF THE YEAR AWARD
In 2017, 543 women were nominated for the award, including 229 from Division I; 117 from Division II and 197 from Division III. Collectively, the 543 women carried an average GPA of 3.69. A further breakdown reveals that 122 of the nominees are multi-sport athletes with Madzia included in that listing as a member of the cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field squads. Overall, 100 women that competed in outdoor track & field were nominated with 87 more competing indoors, both making up the two largest groups of the nominees this year.
The award, which was begun in 1991, honors graduating female college student-athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service, and leadership throughout their collegiate careers. One of 229 Division I athletes that were nominated this year, Madzia will now wait and see if she is one of the two women selected by the Conference to move forward in the process. Those that are selected by their respective conferences are placed in a pool where the NCAA Woman of the Year committee will first select the Top 30 with 10 representatives from each of the three NCAA divisions. The committee will then reduce the pool of 30 candidates to a group of nine finalists in September with the selection of the NCAA Woman of the Year taking place October 22.
Madzia, while only a member of the Bearcats program for two years, made the most of her time as she was consistently the cross country team's top finisher including a 13th-place finish at the 2016 American Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships in West Chester, Ohio, a placement that garnered her all-conference honors, the first for the Bearcats women in their four years in the league. Her finish, along with another strong showing from her teammates, saw UC place sixth overall, the highest finish for the Bearcats since 2004 and their first single-digit finish in AAC competition.
The 2014 and 2015 Flying Pig Half Marathon champion before joining UC, Madzia also was a standout on the track as she finished her career holding the fifth-best time in the outdoor 10,000m run after she ran 17:15.93 at the 2017 AAC Outdoor Championships. All told during her career, she was part of a resurgence for the cross country program while also being part of four team trophies in track and field, including the 2016 and 2017 AAC Outdoor Championships and runners-up finishes at the 2016 and 2017 AAC Indoor Championships.
Academically, Madzia was among the best on campus as evidenced by the collection of honors and awards that accompanied her lengthy resume of clubs, programs, and other educational experiences. Madzia, who graduated from UC in April with a degree in neurobiology and a minor in women's, gender and sexuality studies, was recently accepted into the UC College of Medicine's Medical Science Training Program. For all her work, she was selected for a 2017 UC Presidential Leadership Medal of Excellence, the highest honor on campus given to graduating seniors that exemplify scholarship, leadership, character, service and the ideals of the University of Cincinnati. The first UC female student-athlete to earn the honor since its inception in 2002, Madzia's awards did not stop there as she was also a finalist for the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship, was named the female recipient of the American Athletic Conference's Commissioner's Postgraduate Leadership Award.
Madzia, who has been named to the Dean's List all eight semesters she has attended UC, also recently earned her second academic honor of the season from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) as she was voted to the CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team, making her one of just 15 women nationally selected to the highest list and the only woman from the AAC to earn a place on any of the three national teams. Earlier this spring, she was selected CoSIDA Academic All-District 5 First Team as well.
Several of the groups Madzia has been affiliated with during her time at UC have also benefited from her leadership as she was the founder of Cincinnati Students Invisible, co-president of the UC chapter of GlobeMed as well as the director of its Global Health Education group and vice president of the UC French Club. She also has traveled the globe to work on a study tour on HIV/AIDS in South Africa and work as a grass roots on-site intern with Social Action for Women in Mae Sot, Thailand.
// MORE ON THE NCAA WOMAN OF THE YEAR AWARD
In 2017, 543 women were nominated for the award, including 229 from Division I; 117 from Division II and 197 from Division III. Collectively, the 543 women carried an average GPA of 3.69. A further breakdown reveals that 122 of the nominees are multi-sport athletes with Madzia included in that listing as a member of the cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field squads. Overall, 100 women that competed in outdoor track & field were nominated with 87 more competing indoors, both making up the two largest groups of the nominees this year.