June 17, 2008

Center Valley, Pa. - The Patriot League has forwarded the names of Lehigh's Christy Smith and American's Denise Infante as its nominees for the NCAA Woman of the Year honor. The Patriot League's senior woman administrators chosen Smith and Infante as nominees due to their excellence in the four areas of importance for the NCAA Woman of the Year award: service, leadership, athletics and academics. The 2008 NCAA Woman of the Year winner will be announced at a dinner in Indianapolis Oct. 19, 2008.

Smith was a standout on both the Mountain Hawks' field hockey and women's lacrosse teams. Smith was named the 2007 Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year in the sport of field hockey, while earning her third career All-Patriot League nod. In 2006 and 2007 she was named to the NFHCA All-Region team and was a participant in the NFHCA Senior All-Star Game. She was twice named to the All-Patriot League team as a women's lacrosse member. The Downingtown, Pa, native was a Lehigh Valley Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Women Outstanding Lacrosse Athlete in both 2007 and 2008 and the Lehigh Valley Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women Outstanding Field Hockey Athlete following the 2007 season.

The 2008 graduate owned a 3.89 cumulative grade-point average as a member of the Integrated Business and Engineering Honors Program with a concentration in industrial engineering. She was named the Patriot League Women's Lacrosse Scholar-Athlete of the Year for both the 2007 and 2008 campaigns. The four-time NFHCA Division I National Academic Squad honoree was tabbed an Academic All-American in 2008. Smith was given the highest honor bestowed by Lehigh's Department of Athletics as the 2008 Graduating Scholar Athlete of the Year and also won the 2008 Distinguished Achievement Award.

Lehigh's Christy Smith

Smith was captain of both the field hockey and women's lacrosse teams this past year. During her time at Lehigh she served on the executive board of both Tau Beta Pi (engineering honors society) and the Student Athlete Mentorship Program.

Infante is one of the most decorated field hockey student-athletes in Patriot League history. To her credit are four Patriot League Championship titles of which she was named the tournament MVP three times. She is a two-time Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year award winner and a four-time All-Patriot League selection. She earned her second-career All-America honor in 2007 as a first-team member and was named the 2007 ECAC Player of the Year. The defender from Santiago, Chile has been a member of the Chilean National Team since 2002.

The 2007-08 American Student-Athlete of the Year award winner majored in health promotions and was named to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll this past fall. She also won the American University Office of Multicultural Affairs Scholar Athlete Award in both 2007 and 2008.

American's Denise Infante

Infante took part in the campus beautification day at American University all four years in Washington, D.C. She also participated in the MS Walk in 2007.

Other student-athletes in the running to be the Patriot League's NCAA Woman of the Year nominee were Holy Cross' Christine Strawson (volleyball), Lafayette's Ashley Harbin (track and field) and Lafayette's Kristen Ruckno (softball).

Strawson is a three-time All-Patriot League honoree that holds the Holy Cross career kills record. She was named the Patriot League Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year in both 2006 and 2007. She graduated with a degree in biology while maintaining a 3.93 grade-point average.

Harbin closed out her collegiate athletic career by placing 14th in the preliminary round of the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship. She also competed in this year's NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship meet. The economics and business major was a Patriot League Championship winner in the hammer twice and the weight throw once.

Rucko was named First-Team All-Patriot League twice and finished her career ranked fourth on the League's all-time home runs list. The Patriot League Academic Honor Roll member graduated Lafayette with a degree in economics and business.

The NCAA Woman of the Year award is in its 18th year and honors senior student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in service, leadership, athletics and academics.