Malkamaki Selected as 2024 BIG EAST Woman of the Year Honoree
8/6/2024 9:00:00 AM | TRACK AND FIELD
Noelle Malkamaki joins Villanova's Roschell Clayton as the conference honorees
CHICAGO – U.S. Paralympian and DePaul track and field athlete Noelle Malkamaki has been recognized as one of two BIG EAST Conference honorees for the 2024 NCAA Woman of the Year.
Established in 1991, the NCAA Woman of the Year program honors graduated female college athletes for excellence in academics, athletics, community service, and leadership. Rooted in Title IX, the program recognizes former student-athletes who distinguish themselves among their peers throughout their collegiate careers.
After finishing her undergraduate degree in English with a concentration in literary studies in 2023, Malkamaki completed her master's degree in 2024. Her 3.58 GPA earned her Cum Laude recognition, and she was a four-time BIG EAST All-Academic Team honoree.
A back-to-back World Champion, Malkamaki earned gold representing the U.S. National Team at the 2023 and 2024 World Para Athletics Championships. During the July 2024 U.S. Paralympic Trials, Malkamaki broke the world record (again) with her 13.60m throw in the F46 Shot Put event.
Malkamaki's appearance in the 2024 Paralympics in Paris, France, will mark her first time representing the United States at the Paralympic Games. She will compete for gold with action beginning on Wednesday, Aug. 28.
Her involvement on campus extended beyond just the Blue Demons track and field team. Malkamaki was a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) to the University Athletic Board, and she served as a peer writing tutor at DePaul University's Writing Center. Most recently, she spoke at the "More Than an Athlete Panel" during DePaul Athletics' Diversity Week, where she discussed her experience competing against able-bodied athletes as a disabled thrower.
Eligible female student-athletes are nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year by their member school. Each conference office then reviews the nominations from its core member schools (and sponsored sports) and submits its conference nominee(s) to the NCAA. All nominees who compete in a sport that is not sponsored by their school's primary conference, as well as associate conference nominees and independent nominees, will be sent to a separate pool to be considered by a committee. Then, the NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee identifies the Top 30 – 10 from each division – and from there selects three finalists from each division. From the nine finalists, the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics then selects the NCAA Woman of the Year, who is named during the NCAA Convention.
For the 2024 NCAA Woman of the Year Award, the nominee must have competed and earned a varsity letter in an NCAA-sponsored sport, earned her undergraduate degree no later than the summer 2024 term, and have a minimum cumulative undergraduate grade-point average of 2.50 on a 4.00 scale.
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