The NCAA honored Erin Nicholas ’22 as a finalist for their 2022 Woman of the Year award on Jan. 12.
Nicholas, who compiled an enormous list of accolades during her time at Middlebury, excelled for both the field hockey team and the women’s lacrosse team at Middlebury. Across both sports, Nicholas won six National Championships (four with field hockey and two with lacrosse), was awarded the 2022 DIII Honda Athlete of the Year and compiled an overall record of 151–9 in games played at Middlebury.
The NCAA created their Woman of the Year program in 1991 to honor athletic prowess, academic achievement and community service for women across the entirety of the NCAA. Each year, a selection committee identifies nine finalists (three from each division of the NCAA) for the Woman of the Year award and then picks an overall winner. This year, the selection committee named MIT’s Karenna Groff the overall winner of the award.
Nicholas is the fifth Panther to ever receive this prestigious accolade and is also the first person to represent either the women’s lacrosse team or the field hockey team.
Outside of athletics, Nicholas was also honored for her academic achievements and community service. Nicholas graduated from Middlebury summa cum laude with a degree in molecular biology and biochemistry and was a six time NESCAC all-academic honoree. She also served as a campus ambassador for the organization Morgan’s Message, which seeks to eliminate stigma surrounding student-athlete mental health struggles.
Jack McGuire (he/him) is a Senior Sports Editor.
Jack previously served as a Sports Editor and as a Staff Writer. He also spent this past summer working as a News Reporting Intern for Seven Days.
Jack is also majoring in economics with minors in political science and film and media culture.
