University of Minnesota Athletics
NCAA Woman of the Year Awards Dinner on Sunday
10/15/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Minnesota cross country/track standout Ladia Albertson-Junkans has been selected as a national semifinalist for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award. Overall, 30 national semifinalists are named with 10 coming from each division of the NCAA from a pool of 132 conference nominees from the 1,000-plus schools with NCAA membership. Albertson-Junkans is one of 10 semifinalists selected from the NCAA Division I ranks and the nominee of the Big Ten Conference.
The NCAA website describes the award as follows. “The NCAA Woman of the Year Award honors senior student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership.”
The national semifinalists will gather in Indianapolis, the city of the NCAA Headquarters, for the NCAA Woman of the Year awards dinner on Oct. 18. Nine finalists, three from each division, will be announced the day prior to the awards event.
Albertson-Junkans, a native of Stillwater, Minn., closed out her Golden Gopher running career as a member of four Big Ten championship teams. A two-time cross country All-American, Albertson-Junkans led the Gopher cross country team to its very first Big Ten title in 2007. She was also a member of Big Ten track champion teams in 2006, 2008 and 2009. Albertson-Junkans was a three-time Gopher cross country MVP and a Second Team Academic All-American. She holds the Minnesota cross country record over a 6-kilometer course and ranks among the top-10 in Gopher track history in five different events. Albertson-Junkans graduated with a degree in child psychology (August, 2009) and will begin work on a master’s degree at Minnesota this fall.
Albertson-Junkans is the first NCAA Woman of the Year Award semifinalist from the University of Minnesota. From the award’s inception in 1991 to 2005, state winners were announced. Two Gophers were state winners – diver Laurie Nelson (1994) and volleyball player Cassie Bussie (2004). A cast of 10 finalists were then selected from the state winners. In 2006, the NCAA switched to conference nominees and the current system of 30 semifinalists.
The NCAA website describes the award as follows. “The NCAA Woman of the Year Award honors senior student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership.”
The national semifinalists will gather in Indianapolis, the city of the NCAA Headquarters, for the NCAA Woman of the Year awards dinner on Oct. 18. Nine finalists, three from each division, will be announced the day prior to the awards event.
Albertson-Junkans, a native of Stillwater, Minn., closed out her Golden Gopher running career as a member of four Big Ten championship teams. A two-time cross country All-American, Albertson-Junkans led the Gopher cross country team to its very first Big Ten title in 2007. She was also a member of Big Ten track champion teams in 2006, 2008 and 2009. Albertson-Junkans was a three-time Gopher cross country MVP and a Second Team Academic All-American. She holds the Minnesota cross country record over a 6-kilometer course and ranks among the top-10 in Gopher track history in five different events. Albertson-Junkans graduated with a degree in child psychology (August, 2009) and will begin work on a master’s degree at Minnesota this fall.
Albertson-Junkans is the first NCAA Woman of the Year Award semifinalist from the University of Minnesota. From the award’s inception in 1991 to 2005, state winners were announced. Two Gophers were state winners – diver Laurie Nelson (1994) and volleyball player Cassie Bussie (2004). A cast of 10 finalists were then selected from the state winners. In 2006, the NCAA switched to conference nominees and the current system of 30 semifinalists.
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