LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- In exclusive voting by the senior woman administrators of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, Amanda Lochte of Texas Lutheran University has been selected the 2017 SCAC Woman of the Year.
In addition to being recognized as SCAC Woman of the Year, Lochte will be nominated for the 27th annual NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
The NCAA Woman of the Year Award honors graduating student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, community service and leadership.
Lochte’s selection as Woman of the Year represents the first SCAC WOTY honor for Texas Lutheran.
A two-time Capital One Academic All-America selection for softball, Lochte was named the 2017 CoSIDA Academic All-America® of the Year. As such, Lochte was the first Bulldog to claim the top national academic honor for a CoSIDA Academic All-America® sport category. She was also a four-time SCAC Academic Honor Roll honoree.
On the field, Lochte earned All-SCAC honors twice, while helping the Bulldogs to four-straight league championships and berths to the NCAA tournament. Over her four-year career, TLU posted an incredible 89-2 conference mark (.978) and an overall mark of 151-26 (.853).
This season, she earned First Team All-SCAC honors after finishing second in the league with 15 wins while adding two saves. She also had the league's second-best earned run average at 1.42. In conference play, Lochte went 9-0 with a 1.07 ERA, and had a win and a save during the 2017 conference tournament. She tossed a five-hit, complete-game shutout in the Bulldogs' title-clinching win over Southwestern and earned all-tournament honors for her efforts.
Lochte ended her career with a 38-4 record and a program-best .905 winning percentage - the highest win percentage of any pitcher in SCAC history with at least 30 decisions.
"Amanda has been the backbone of our team the last few years," Texas Lutheran Head Softball Coach Wade Wilson said. "We knew we had something special the second she stepped foot on campus. She was a tremendous leader and has left her fingerprint on Texas Lutheran University."
Lochte, a native of Fredericksburg, Texas, will attend the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas in the doctor of physical therapy program.
An Exercise Science (pre-physical therapy) major who graduated this spring with a 3.97 GPA, Lochte was a member of the TLU Black & Gold President's Counicil, as well as the TLU Honors Program, the Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society and the Alpha Chi Honor Society. She also spent time volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, Special Olympics and the Guadalupe Regional Medical Center, among others.
"Being a scholar, an athlete, and a leader on my campus and in my community has opened up endless opportunities for me and made me the woman I am today," said Lochte. "I was blessed to attend Texas Lutheran University and receive an exemplary education. This gave me a strong baseline of knowledge with which I can pursue my future career as a physical therapist. I was taught how to be persistent in my studies, establish working and personal relationships, capitalize on my strengths, and improve my weaknesses.”
Lochte was one of seven outstanding nominees considered by the SCAC Woman of the Year Committee. The other candidates were:
- Abbe Holtze, volleyball, Colorado College
- Jessie Koster, volleyball, University of Dallas
- Courtney Reopelle, volleyball, Schreiner University
- Nikki Welch, volleyball, Southwestern University
- Monica Holguin, women's basketball, Trinity University
- Jordan Leeper, women's soccer, Trinity University
As SCAC winner, Lochte will be nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year award, one of the most prestigious honors the NCAA bestows. The award recognizes senior student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership.
All conference nominees will be forwarded to the NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee. The selection committee will choose the top 10 nominees in each division. From among those 30 honorees, the selection committee will determine the top three in each division. Finally, the members of the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics will vote from among the top nine finalists to determine the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year.
The top 10 honorees and the nine finalists from Divisions I, II and III will be honored and the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year winner will be recognized Oct. 22 at an awards dinner in Indianapolis.
In conjunction with the changes in the nomination process for the NCAA Woman of the Year award, the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Woman of the Year award was established for the 2005-06 athletic season. Beginning in 2006, the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics (CWA) started receiving conference-designated nominees in lieu of the previous institution- and state-based nomination format.
From 1991 to 2005, each state had a woman of the year honoree and from that group 10 finalists were selected. From the top-10 finalists, the national winner was then chosen. Since 2006, each conference and independent school forwards nominations to the NCAA.
To read about past winners of the SCAC Woman-of-the-Year award, click here.
2015 - Emily Jorgens, soccer, Trinity University
2014 - Lilly Duarte, cross country & outdoor track and field, Southwestern University / Shelby Eaves, volleyball, Austin College
2013 - Rachel Thibodeau, volleyball, Southwestern University
