TicketsCINCINNATI – Two University of Cincinnati student-athletes and one administrator were selected for annual Cincinnati USA Women's Sports Association awards with Loretta Blaut (track & field) and Jordan Thompson (volleyball) being named College Sportswoman of the Year in their respective sports while Maggie McKinley, UC's Executive Senior Associate AD/Senior Woman Administrator, was named the winner of the Mary Jo Huismann Administrator of the Year Award.
Both student-athletes were honored for the second time as Blaut also won the award a year ago and Thompson earned accolades in 2017.
All three Bearcats will be among the honorees at the 26th annual Cincinnati Women's Sports Association awards ceremony on Saturday, May 11, 2019 from 10 a.m. to noon inside the Fifth Third Arena Champions Club on UC's campus. The award winners will be recognized on the field at the FC Cincinnati home match in Nippert Stadium immediately following the reception.
COLLEGE SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR - TRACK & FIELD
Blaut capped her University of Cincinnati career by earning USTFCCCA All-America First Team accolades in the high jump at the 2019 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championship in Birmingham, Alabama.
Blaut, a six-time USTFCCCA All-American, placed third in the high jump marking the third-straight NCAA meet finishing in the Top-3. The most decorated female student-athlete in UC history, Blaut closed her UC career with six total USTFCCCA All-America honors, including five first-team honors and one second-team honor.
On a conference level, Blaut was a five-time American Athletic Conference champion as she swept the past three indoor titles and added a pair of outdoor crowns in between those titles, giving her five in a row to cap her time in the league. She will now leave UC with the outdoor school and conference record with a best of 1.88m (6-02.00) while her 1.87m indoor mark tying for the school record while standing as the AAC record. She also holds the meet record for both the AAC indoor and outdoor competitions.
Entering the NCAA meet, she was undefeated against collegiate competition while winning five of the six events she entered and posting one of the top marks in the nation. Her winning jump of 1.87m at the Charlie Thomas Invitational in February tied for the top clearance in the NCAA this indoor season along with Andrea Stapleton-Johnson from BYU.
JORDAN THOMPSON - COLLEGE SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR - VOLLEYBALL
Thompson earned the college sportswoman of the year for volleyball for the second time in her career, also being honored in 2017. She became one of the most prolific players in UC volleyball history this past season, earning Second Team AVCA All-American honors while leading the nation in kills, points, kills per set and points per set, averaging 6.27 kills per set and totaling 827 kills. Thompson was also the unanimous American Athletic Conference Player of the Year, two-time AVCA Player of the Week, eight-time AAC Offensive Player of the Week and Google Cloud/CoSIDA Academic All-District Second Team.
Thompson's 2018 season was one for the history books. She broke numerous records during her junior campaign, including single-season kills and points at UC and the AAC, career kills and points for the AAC and single-match kills for the UC and the AAC, shattering all previous records. The previous UC single-season records were 5.43 and 635, respectively. Her kills per set is the highest in NCAA volleyball since the 25-point scoring format began in 2008. No one in the country has had a higher average since the 2006 season. The last time any player in the nation had more than 800 kills in a season was in 2004, with one player totaling 823 and the other 842; that was during the 30-point scoring format. The most kills any player has had prior to Thompson this past year in the current 25-point scoring format is 6.23 kills per set and 715 total kills.
MARY JO HUISMANN ADMINISTRATOR OF THE YEAR AWARD.
McKinley was tabbed as the winner of the Mary Jo Huismann Administrator of the Year Award. The honor is presented annually to an administrator of an interscholastic or intercollegiate program who has demonstrated excellence in leadership and service and made significant contributions that enhances and promotes the sports experience for girls and women in our community.
The award is named for Mary Jo Huismann, the legendary basketball coach of Mother of Mercy High School in Cincinnati from 1972-2018. She also was the athletic director at the school for 39 years until 2011.
McKinley is the first UC administrator to earn the Cincinnati USA Women's Sports Association honor, but not the first with UC ties. Associate AD Jolinda Lewis-Miller, also a former Bearcats student-athlete, was tabbed for the award in 2014 when she was the athletic director at Hughes HS.
McKinley has earned recent national honors as the 2018 Women Leaders in College Sports NCAA Division I FBS Administrator of the Year. McKinley joined the Bearcats staff in 2001 was elevated to her current role in July of 2016 after serving as senior associate director of athletics/SWA.
As a member of the Director of Athletics' Senior Staff, McKinley provides strategic direction on departmental initiatives focused on student-athlete welfare, gender equity, Title IX compliance and equity and inclusion. She has sport supervision of Football, Women's Basketball and Volleyball in addition to direct oversight of the Compliance, Sport Services, Medical Services and Sports Performance departments. In 2016, she was appointed to the NCAA Division I Council representing the American Athletic Conference and Vice Chair of the NCAA DI Legislative Committee.
McKinley serves as the chair of the American's Track & Field committee and Women Leaders in College Sports Governance committee. She previously served on the National Association for Athletics Compliance (NAAC) Strategic Initiatives and Communication's committees and Women Leaders in College Sports Foundation Fund and Membership committees. On campus, McKinley is a co-advisor for UC's Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC), the chair of the department of athletics' equity and inclusion One Team committee and is a member of the University's Diversity Council, Bias Incident Response Team and Enterprise Risk Management Risk Council.
Previous Winners (since 2011)
College Sportswoman of the Year • Overall (all sports)
Annette Echikunwoke (Track & Field) • 2017
Mackenzie Fields (Track & Field) • 2014
Missy Harpenau (Volleyball) • 2012
Kathy Klump (Track & Field) • 2013
Stephanie Niemer (Volleyball) • 2011
2019 recipient to be announced May 11
College Sportswoman of the Year • Sport Award Winners
Loretta Blaut • Track & Field • 2018, 2019
Monica Borzillo • Lacrosse • 2018
Jasmine Cotten • Track & Field • 2012
Annette Echikunwoke • Track & Field • 2017
Mackenzie Fields • Track & Field • 2014
Missy Harpenau • Volleyball • 2012
Erika Hurd • Track & Field • 2016
Jacqueline Keire • Swimming & Diving • 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
Kathy Klump • Track & Field • 2013
Stephanie Niemer • Volleyball • 2011
Jordan Thompson • Volleyball • 2017, 2019
College Coach of the Year
2018 • Susan Seaton (Track & Field)
2017 • Susan Seaton (Track & Field)
Mary Jo Huismann Administrator of the Year Award
2019 • Maggie McKinley
Both student-athletes were honored for the second time as Blaut also won the award a year ago and Thompson earned accolades in 2017.
All three Bearcats will be among the honorees at the 26th annual Cincinnati Women's Sports Association awards ceremony on Saturday, May 11, 2019 from 10 a.m. to noon inside the Fifth Third Arena Champions Club on UC's campus. The award winners will be recognized on the field at the FC Cincinnati home match in Nippert Stadium immediately following the reception.
COLLEGE SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR - TRACK & FIELD
Blaut capped her University of Cincinnati career by earning USTFCCCA All-America First Team accolades in the high jump at the 2019 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championship in Birmingham, Alabama.
Blaut, a six-time USTFCCCA All-American, placed third in the high jump marking the third-straight NCAA meet finishing in the Top-3. The most decorated female student-athlete in UC history, Blaut closed her UC career with six total USTFCCCA All-America honors, including five first-team honors and one second-team honor.
On a conference level, Blaut was a five-time American Athletic Conference champion as she swept the past three indoor titles and added a pair of outdoor crowns in between those titles, giving her five in a row to cap her time in the league. She will now leave UC with the outdoor school and conference record with a best of 1.88m (6-02.00) while her 1.87m indoor mark tying for the school record while standing as the AAC record. She also holds the meet record for both the AAC indoor and outdoor competitions.
Entering the NCAA meet, she was undefeated against collegiate competition while winning five of the six events she entered and posting one of the top marks in the nation. Her winning jump of 1.87m at the Charlie Thomas Invitational in February tied for the top clearance in the NCAA this indoor season along with Andrea Stapleton-Johnson from BYU.
JORDAN THOMPSON - COLLEGE SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR - VOLLEYBALL
Thompson earned the college sportswoman of the year for volleyball for the second time in her career, also being honored in 2017. She became one of the most prolific players in UC volleyball history this past season, earning Second Team AVCA All-American honors while leading the nation in kills, points, kills per set and points per set, averaging 6.27 kills per set and totaling 827 kills. Thompson was also the unanimous American Athletic Conference Player of the Year, two-time AVCA Player of the Week, eight-time AAC Offensive Player of the Week and Google Cloud/CoSIDA Academic All-District Second Team.
Thompson's 2018 season was one for the history books. She broke numerous records during her junior campaign, including single-season kills and points at UC and the AAC, career kills and points for the AAC and single-match kills for the UC and the AAC, shattering all previous records. The previous UC single-season records were 5.43 and 635, respectively. Her kills per set is the highest in NCAA volleyball since the 25-point scoring format began in 2008. No one in the country has had a higher average since the 2006 season. The last time any player in the nation had more than 800 kills in a season was in 2004, with one player totaling 823 and the other 842; that was during the 30-point scoring format. The most kills any player has had prior to Thompson this past year in the current 25-point scoring format is 6.23 kills per set and 715 total kills.
MARY JO HUISMANN ADMINISTRATOR OF THE YEAR AWARD.
McKinley was tabbed as the winner of the Mary Jo Huismann Administrator of the Year Award. The honor is presented annually to an administrator of an interscholastic or intercollegiate program who has demonstrated excellence in leadership and service and made significant contributions that enhances and promotes the sports experience for girls and women in our community.
The award is named for Mary Jo Huismann, the legendary basketball coach of Mother of Mercy High School in Cincinnati from 1972-2018. She also was the athletic director at the school for 39 years until 2011.
McKinley is the first UC administrator to earn the Cincinnati USA Women's Sports Association honor, but not the first with UC ties. Associate AD Jolinda Lewis-Miller, also a former Bearcats student-athlete, was tabbed for the award in 2014 when she was the athletic director at Hughes HS.
McKinley has earned recent national honors as the 2018 Women Leaders in College Sports NCAA Division I FBS Administrator of the Year. McKinley joined the Bearcats staff in 2001 was elevated to her current role in July of 2016 after serving as senior associate director of athletics/SWA.
As a member of the Director of Athletics' Senior Staff, McKinley provides strategic direction on departmental initiatives focused on student-athlete welfare, gender equity, Title IX compliance and equity and inclusion. She has sport supervision of Football, Women's Basketball and Volleyball in addition to direct oversight of the Compliance, Sport Services, Medical Services and Sports Performance departments. In 2016, she was appointed to the NCAA Division I Council representing the American Athletic Conference and Vice Chair of the NCAA DI Legislative Committee.
McKinley serves as the chair of the American's Track & Field committee and Women Leaders in College Sports Governance committee. She previously served on the National Association for Athletics Compliance (NAAC) Strategic Initiatives and Communication's committees and Women Leaders in College Sports Foundation Fund and Membership committees. On campus, McKinley is a co-advisor for UC's Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC), the chair of the department of athletics' equity and inclusion One Team committee and is a member of the University's Diversity Council, Bias Incident Response Team and Enterprise Risk Management Risk Council.
Previous Winners (since 2011)
College Sportswoman of the Year • Overall (all sports)
Annette Echikunwoke (Track & Field) • 2017
Mackenzie Fields (Track & Field) • 2014
Missy Harpenau (Volleyball) • 2012
Kathy Klump (Track & Field) • 2013
Stephanie Niemer (Volleyball) • 2011
2019 recipient to be announced May 11
College Sportswoman of the Year • Sport Award Winners
Loretta Blaut • Track & Field • 2018, 2019
Monica Borzillo • Lacrosse • 2018
Jasmine Cotten • Track & Field • 2012
Annette Echikunwoke • Track & Field • 2017
Mackenzie Fields • Track & Field • 2014
Missy Harpenau • Volleyball • 2012
Erika Hurd • Track & Field • 2016
Jacqueline Keire • Swimming & Diving • 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
Kathy Klump • Track & Field • 2013
Stephanie Niemer • Volleyball • 2011
Jordan Thompson • Volleyball • 2017, 2019
College Coach of the Year
2018 • Susan Seaton (Track & Field)
2017 • Susan Seaton (Track & Field)
Mary Jo Huismann Administrator of the Year Award
2019 • Maggie McKinley