Megan Warren Nominated by HCAC for NCAA Woman of the Year

INDIANAPOLIS, IND. -- Recent Defiance College graduate Megan Warren (Mason) has been recognized as the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference's nominee for the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year Award for her success on the field, as well as in the classroom and in the community.

Warren was one of just 145 conference-level nominees that are nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award for the 2017 graduating class. 

On the field, Warren was a First Team All-HCAC honoree during her senior campaign, where she hit .401 with 55 hits, which tied the school-record for hits in a season, and 33 RBI. Her efforts helped lead Defiance to their first HCAC Tournament appearance since 2011, placing third in the regular-season standings.

Her feats off the field put Warren over the top. She was president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) for the HCAC, allowing her to take advantage of a plethora of opportunities at the national level. Warren is a member of the competitive safeguards committee that included student-athletes from all three divisions, correlating directly to her degree in athletic training. Warren is also a member of the Divisioin III management council, which is the second highest-ranking council in Division III. 

"I'm very excited to be able to represent Defiance College and the Defiance College softball team as an NCAA Woman of the Year nominee because the coaches and the staff here put such an emphasis on being a well-rounded individual and truly embodying the Division III experiece. So being able to represent Defiance College in this way makes me feel like I was successful in doing that," Warren said of the accomplishment.

Warren now proceeds into the next portion of the nomination process, as she will be forwarded into the pool with the other nominees to be reviewed by the NCAA office to be reviewed by the NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee. The group of 145 candidates will be cut to a group of 30 finalists, with 10 of those candidates coming from Division III. These will be announced in early September.

Warren is currently serving as a graduate assistant at Purdue University in their athletic training program, where she will obtain her Master's degree in health and kinesiology.