ORLANDO – UCF graduates McKenna Melville and Cydni Turner have been nominated for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year award.
Rooted in Title IX, the NCAA Woman of the Year Award was established in 1991 to recognize graduating female student-athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their collegiate careers.
Melville, the two-time American Athletic Conference Player of the Year has been one of the most dominant players in UCF history, leading the Knights to four consecutive American titles. She will look to add a fifth title in her fifth season with the team this coming season. She began her highly decorated career with a Freshman of the Year nod in The American before making four straight First Team All-Conference appearances. Melville has been named a CoSIDA Academic All-American twice and made the Dean's List five times before graduating as magna cum laude. The Eagan, Minn. native graduated with a Bachelor of Science in finance and is now seeking a masters in secondary mathematics education.
Cydni Turner was a part of the historic Knights track & field 2022 season that saw them sweep The American indoor and outdoor titles. In her time at UCF, she made the Dean's List every semester and earned a bachelor's degree in computer science with a minor in French.
Both Turner and Melville are Order of Pegasus recipients, with both of them earning the distinction in the spring of 2022. The Order of Pegasus is the highest honor any UCF student can earn.
They are two of 10 American Athletic Conference candidates in consideration for the honor. They are in the running with 577 female college athletes representing multiple sports. The nominees represent all three NCAA divisions, including 248 nominees from Division I, 127 from Division II and 202 from Division III. Nominees competed in 23 sports, with multisport student-athletes accounting for 125 of the nominees.
From here, The American will select up to two nominees to continue on in the award selection process. The Woman of the Year selection committee will then choose the Top 30 honorees — 10 from each division. The selection committee will determine the top three honorees from each division and announce the nine finalists. The Top 30 honorees will be celebrated and the Woman of the Year will be named at the NCAA Convention. The 2023 Convention will take place in January in San Antonio.
