Simon Fraser University track and field athlete Helen Crofts was chosen one of two Great Northwest Athletic Conference candidates for the 23rd annual NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
University of Alaska Anchorage basketball player Alysa Horn is the other nominee.
The award honors senior student athletes for their collegiate achievements in service, leadership, athletics and academics.
Later this summer, 30 finalists - 10 from each of the NCAA's three divisions - will be named. The top nine - three each from divisions I, II and III - will be honored at the 2013 NCAA woman of the year dinner in Indianapolis on Oct. 20.
Crofts had a spectacular career not only on the track, but also in the classroom at Simon Fraser, compiling a near-perfect 4.14 grade point average.
A biological science major with a concentration in cells, molecules and physiology, Crofts compiled the highest GPA at SFU, earning the Bill DeVries Award for excellence in academics and athletics, as well as being named SFU athletics top scholar athlete for 2012/13.
She accomplished all that academically while winning two national titles and four All-American awards during the 2013 NCAA indoor and outdoor national championships.
In the indoor meet in March in Birmingham, Alabama, she won the 800 meters in a meet-record time of 2:05.96, while also leading SFU to a third-place finish in the distance medley relay (11:37.62) and an eighth-place finish in the 4x400 relay (3:47.14).
She completed a sweep of 800m titles in the outdoor meet in May at Pueblo, Colorado, finishing first in a time of 2:08.18.
A week prior to the outdoor national meet, she finished ninth in the U.S.A. track and field high performance Distance Classic at Occidental. Her time of 2:02.10 was not only a Great Northwest record, but was also the third-fastest time by a collegiate athlete this spring at all levels.
Crofts was selected the conference indoor athlete of the year. She won the 800m title at the conference meet (2:12.29) and led the Clan to wins in both relays in times of 3:48.36 and 11:47.86.
In the outdoor conference meet, she swept the 400 and 1500m titles, winning the 400 in a meet-record time of 54.46 and the 1500 in a time of 4:26.85.
Crofts, who was also named the West Region athlete of the year, also led the Clan to a second-place finish in the 4x400 meter relay in a time of 3:46.04.
Horn finished her basketball career with some of the best numbers in UAA history. She ranks ninth in school history in total points (1,134), eighth in rebounds (639), ninth in blocked shots (59) and sixth in three-pointers made (113).
Horn, who became just the fifth player in school history to achieve 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 50 blocks, averaged 15.4 points and 9.0 rebounds and also had 34 blocks and 44 steals in earning GNAC second team all-conference honors last winter.
She was also a standout in the classroom, compiling a 3.67 GPA in earning GNAC all-academic honors three times. She was also a seven-time selection to the UAA Dean's List.
Crofts becomes the first Simon Fraser student-athlete to earn a nomination for the NCAA woman of the year award, an honour coming at the end of SFU's first year as the first international member in the NCAA.
