CINCINNATI -- University of Cincinnati track and field and cross country student-athlete Ellie Leather has reached the second round of the NCAA Woman of the Year selection process by earning one of two American Athletic Conference spots.
The NCAA Woman of the Year program is rooted in Title IX and has recognized graduating female college athletes for excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership since its inception in 1991.
Leather is one of 53 nominees across Division I and 151 overall. Cincinnati has previously had Hannah Markel (2021), Loretta Blaut and Annette Echikunwoke (2019) and Juliana Madzia (2017), all track and field athletes, for similar top AAC nominee honors.
ABOUT LEATHER
Leather, a native of Bristol, England, was a seven-time AAC champion and five-time school record holder. She was the first Bearcat ever to qualify for the NCAA Cross Country Championships after advancing out of the NCAA Great Lakes Regional this past fall.
Her historic season continued into indoors where she took third in the mile at the 2022 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. It marked the first track and field student-athlete in program history to place in the top three in a running event at NCAAs. She earned First Team All-America honors for the performance.
She most recently qualified for the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships where she garnered Second Team All-America accolades in the 1500m.
Academically, she was a CoSIDA First Team All-District selection and two-time AAC All-Academic honoree. She was awarded the prestigious 2022 UC Athletics Jean Stephens Memorial Award and was inducted into the 2021 UC Legion of Excellence. She earned her bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies with a minor in nutrition.
Off the track, Leather has participated in Aruna Project Run, Women's Cross Country Run Against Hunger and Food For All.
SELECTION PROCESS
The Woman of the Year Selection Committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will choose 10 nominees from each division to make up the national Top 30 honorees. The Top 30 honorees will be announced in October. From there, the selection committee will narrow the pool to three finalists from each division. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will select the 2022 Woman of the Year from the nine finalists.
At January's NCAA Convention in San Antonio, the national Top 30 honorees will be celebrated, and the NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced. For more information, visit ncaa.org/woty.
Leather Earns AAC Nomination for NCAA Woman of the Year
University of Cincinnati track and field and cross country student-athlete Ellie Leather has reached the second round of the NCAA Woman of the Year selection process by earning one of two American Athletic Conference spots.
