Information courtesy of Grand Valley State's Kevin Meyer and the NCAA

ALLENDALE, Mich.--  Former Grand Valley State women's soccer player Clare Carlson has been selected as the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) nominee for the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year. Carlson finished her playing career for the Lakers in the fall and is now one of a record-high 543 nominees for the award, which selects nominees from all three divisions of play.

 A record 543 female college athletes have been nominated by NCAA member schools for the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year award.

Carlson has joined a distinguished list of defensive stars among the ranks of former Laker soccer players, and earned plenty of recognition both on and off the field during her playing days. A two-time NSCAA and D2CCA All-American and a 2016 HERO Sports All-American, Carlson was a defensive anchor for the Lakers in the past two season after rising from a reserve to a full-time starter. Her tenacious defense and added versatility on the attack as a back earned her GLIAC Defensive Player of the Year honors in both her junior and senior season, and she was a consensus All-GLIAC First Team selection both years as well.

Equally as impressive as her on the field accolades was her academic success, as Carlson was a two-time NSCAA Scholar All-American, a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American, and was twice awarded the Fall GLIAC Commissioner's Award (2015 & 2016). A biomedical sciences major, Carlson carried a cumulative GPA north of 3.9 in each of the past two seasons. 

Established in 1991 and now in its 27th year, the NCAA Woman of the Year award honors graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their collegiate careers.

The school nominees represent all three NCAA divisions, with 229 from Division I, 117 from Division II and 197 from Division III. The nominees competed in 21 different women’s sports, and 122 were multisport athletes during their time in college.

The NCAA encourages member schools to honor their top graduating female student-athletes each year by submitting their names for consideration for the Woman of the Year award.

Next, conferences will select up to two conference nominees each from the pool of school nominees. The Woman of the Year selection committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will then choose the top 30 honorees — 10 from each division.

From the top 30, the selection committee determines the top three honorees from each division and announces the nine finalists in September. The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics then chooses the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year from those nine.

The top 30 honorees will be recognized and the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced at the annual award ceremony Oct. 22 in Indianapolis.