Carnegie Mellon University track & field student-athlete Michelle Karabin and Emory University soccer student-athlete Shivani Beall have been selected as the UAA representatives for NCAA Woman of the Year.
Karabin was named the 2020 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Elite 90 winner and became the first Tartan women's track and field athlete to receive the award. She earned the honor for achieving a 4.0 GPA during her college career, majoring in mechanical and biomedical engineering. She will pursue her Ph.D. in biomedical engineering at the University of Pittsburgh starting next month.
Karabin qualified for the 2020 NCAA Women's Indoor Track and Field Championships in the pole vault following her indoor career-best mark of 3.72 meters at the Battle for the Obelisk versus Case Western Reserve University in January. It was her first trip to the indoor championships and her second to an NCAA championship, as she placed eighth and claimed All-America honors at the 2018 outdoor event. She is a six-time All-Region recipient in the pole vault.
"I was a pole vaulter on Carnegie Mellon's track and field team for the past four years and have been captain the past two. I am small-statured and not a natural athlete, but have surprised many by becoming a two-time national qualifier and an All American," she said. "The reason I have experienced success is because coaches have looked past my physical appearance and decided I was worth their time. While at CMU, I worked to pay it forward and give similar opportunities to children in the community and to my teammates."
“Michelle is an extraordinary human being and has represented Carnegie Mellon and our athletics program with compassion, grace, and leadership since she arrived as a first-year student,” said Tartans' Director of Athletics Josh Centor. “She is one of the hardest-working individuals I have ever been around, and on top of her commitment to academic and athletic excellence, she has always been driven to make the world around her a better place. She has made an indelible impact on others, and is as deserving of this special recognition as anyone could ever be.”
This past fall, Karabin worked on the Scoliosis Simulator Project where she led a team in research and development of a physical model of an adjustable deformed spine to aid engineers and surgeons in surgical tool evaluation. She is a member of Pi Tau Sigma and was an intern for the Human Engineering Research Laboratories at the University of Pittsburgh last summer. She also interned at Naval Nuclear Laboratories as a technical intern in 2018. As a team captain, Karabin holds leadership roles on the Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) where she served as the vice president and secretary.
Karabin was the lead organizer of SAAC Field Day last year and has also volunteered at Little Sisters of the Poor nursing home. "I loved interacting with the children, particularly one named Ekow, who was also an honorary member of our track team," she commented. "Ekow has cerebral palsy, but never let that stop him. I spent much time with him during practices and watched him grow into a more confident person and capable athlete. Seeing his face, and those of other children at Field Day, gave me as much joy as I hope I gave my coaches."
Beall, who carried a 3.96 grade-point average as a biology major with a minor in sociology. earned a prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, bestowed upon student-athletes who excel academically and athletically, while also serving as leaders in the community. The NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, a $10,000 award, will be applied toward the graduate degree program of Beall's choice.
A three-time member of the University Athletic Association All-Academic Team, Beall was tabbed as a 2019 Second Team Academic All-American. She finished her career among the top-10 in program history in a host of categories including shots on goal (1st, 112), shots attempted (2nd, 213), goals scored (10th, 22), assists (11th, 20) and points (11th, 64).
"The two most competitive environments in which I have found myself are on a soccer field and in a college pre-medical program. Throughout my life, my competitive nature has motivated me to work towards ambitious goals in both athletics and academics," Beall stated. "Before college, this drive manifested itself as a desire for personal success. My experiences at Emory University, however, showed me that my urge to compete in both sports and my field of study is inextricably intertwined with the benefits of working as a team towards a common goal, rather than solely for individual gain."
She served as a student leader at Bread Coffeehouse, which is affiliated with the Emory campus ministry and is a welcoming place for students of all faiths. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, she began volunteering at the Clarkston Community Health Center to further explore her interest in providing healthcare to underserved populations, as the clinic provides free healthcare to a primarily refugee population, and hopes to continue there in the fall.
"Shivani is an outstanding young woman who has exceled in all of her endeavors. She has been a leader, role model, and an outstanding representative of her family and Emory University," said Assistant Vice-President/Clyde Partin Sr., Director of Athletics Mike Vienna. "I cannot think of a student who is more deserving of this prestigious honor."
"Working towards my honors thesis in biology, I constantly felt I was competing against my fellow pre-medical students. My hard work in the lab designing a new method of detection for E. coli bacteria was initially motivated by a desire to outshine my peers," Beall remarked. "When I eventually came to a roadblock in my project, I received immense help from another lab, who provided me with their expertise simply with the interest of furthering their field of study at heart. I then realized that progressing the field of medicine is not so different from working towards the collective success of a soccer team, both involving reaching a common goal for the good of many rather than for personal satisfaction. After completing my thesis, I was thrilled to be able to provide the other lab with the finished testing method to help in their future work."
Karabin and Beall will now join conference selections from all NCAA divisions. 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 from among those nine to determine the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year.
In the past, the top 10 honorees from Divisions I, II and III, including the nine overall finalists, were honored at the NCAA Woman of the Year Banquet in Indianapolis. This year, with the pandemic, the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced later in the fall.
Karabin and Beall earned the UAA Woman of the Year selection among an impressive list of nominees:
Emma Bartlett, Brandeis University: A 2019 team captain, Bartlett was a four-year starter at outside hitter and middle blocker on the Judges' volleyball squad. As a sophomore, she helped the team reach the semifinals of the ECAC Division III tournament, and as a junior, she helped them finish fifth in the UAA, the team’s best finish in a decade. That season, she earned the first of two All-UAA honors and was a first-team All-New England selection. She was named an American Volleyball Coaches Association honorable mention All-American, just the second in program history. Bartlett was also a three-time UAA All-Academic selection.
"Brandeis volleyball gave me the work ethic to fight, as each point is a small battle that each teammate plays a role in. I learned balance as a Division III athlete, as I gave my time and energy in each task at hand from schoolwork or team bonding while traveling from city to city," Bartlett reflected. "Receiving honorable mention All-America honors my junior year was a testament to the coaches that believed in me and the growth that came with the good and the bad. Being quite a shy person in middle school, volleyball literally gave me a voice, as'quiet volleyball' is quite the oxymoron, and confidence as the support surrounding me was unmatched. If I could make any impact on my teammates, it would be reminding them of those initial memories playing volleyball. The excitement that fourteen-year old Emma had walking onto the court for the first time is who I play for; that lanky girl who found her passion on the volleyball court."
Emma Nicklas-Morris, Carnegie Mellon University: Nicklas-Morris, who received an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, completed her senior season with three All-America awards from the College Swimming Coaches Athletic Association for qualifting for the 2020 NCAA Division Swimming and Diving Championships in three different events. The swimmer holds six school records for the Tartans and earned an additional three All-America honors and six All-America Honorable Mention honors in three years at the NCAA championships.
"The leadership opportunities I had at Carnegie Mellon allowed me to gain confidence, grow personally, and combine my passion for helping others with art. My freshman year I started a project within Design for America, a nationwide organization for social good. Each Sunday, I led open art sessions to residents at a men's homeless shelter," she described. "Even if the men are hesitant to create, I always ask if they would like to sit and chat with us instead. I hope our interactions boosted their self-esteem through meaningful conversations and opportunities to express themselves through art. Through leading this group, I gained better insight into the complexity of homelessness and learned compassion and perspective. I inspired others by sharing my experiences. Seeing smiles on the residents' faces fuels my passion to continue to positively impact those who experience homelessness."
Ilissa Hamilton, Case Western Reserve University: Hamilton recorded a 4.00 grade point average as a biomedical engineering major. Last month, she was selected to the CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team in softball. With the honor, she became the first Spartan in the program's history to have Academic All-America selections in multiple years. Hamilton was an Academic All-America Second Team selection in 2019 as well. A three-time UAA All-Association selection, Hamilton played a major role during the team's historic 2018 campaign as she set the single-season program record for both wins and strikeouts with 21 victories and 184 strikeouts.
"When I look back on my college career, I will not remember statistics, records, and awards. I probably will not even recall how it felt to throw that final pitch," she explained. "What will come to mind are the three things my fellow Spartans instilled in me: positivity in the face of failure; humility on your best days; and most importantly; selflessness when working with and for others. These lessons will ceaselessly inspire and fuel my new career, where I, alongside a team of joint replacement development engineers, focused on helping patients do what they love for as long as humanly possible."
Laura Darcey, University of Chicago: As an elite member of the women's track & field team, Darcey capped her collegiate career with the 2020 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Women's Field Athlete of the Year award. Darcey's historic indoor track & field season saw her submit the fourth-best indoor pentathlon mark in NCAA Division III history (3,794 points). As the nation's leader in the pentathlon, she also ranked highly in NCAA Division III in the indoor high jump (third) and the indoor long jump (seventh). Darcey owns four school records, collected six All-America awards at the NCAA championships and eight UAA titles.
"Everything changed in my sophomore year summer. I had started taking some public policy classes instead of economics and was exposed to ideas around injustice and deep societal problems," she explained. "That summer I interned for the All Stars Project of Chicago, working to help low income communities in Chicago. Suddenly the statistics from class had names, faces, and life-stories. I had always known I was fortunate, but was inspired by those with far fewer advantages who were striving to do their best for themselves and their families. I felt a profound responsibility to make the most of my advantages as a scholar and athlete. I found a new direction and motivation in my studies."
Agnes Lo, University of Chicago: Lo completed the most accomplished diving career in school history, accumulating six All-America awards between the one-meter and three-meter diving boards. Within the UAA, Lo was a six-time Association champion and three-time UAA Diver of the Year. She departs UChicago with three school records as well. In 2019, she was the national runner-up in the three-meter dive and placed third in the one-meter dive, while also capturing NCAA regional titles on both boards.
"I set out to become more grounded and compassionate in order to better impact the world around me. I learned from painful past experiences to help me confront conflicts more openly, admit when I am wrong, and ask for help when I need it," Lo stated. "I have learned to better support friends who need guidance. In swimming and diving, I learned great humility and patience in the process of helping students overcome their fears. In my classes and volunteer work, I have discovered pathways to contribute more back to society. This coming year, as a City Year AmeriCorps member, I aim to help underprivileged youth achieve their full potential and strive for a brighter future. In the end, the impact I make in society will matter more to me than any diving award."