INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – For the first time in program history, Clayton State Athletics has a pair of individuals in the running for the prestigious NCAA Woman of the Year Award as seniors Jessica Charman (Harefield, England) and Joy Diaz (Riverdale, Ga.) have both been nominated for the 2018 edition.
 
The NCAA Woman of the Year program honors the academic achievements, athletics excellence, community service and leadership of graduating female college athletes from all three divisions. To be eligible, nominees must have competed and earned a varsity letter in an NCAA-sponsored sport and must have completed eligibility in her primary sport.
 
JESSICA CHARMAN
Charman made her mark on and off the field as a five-year member of the women's soccer program. She started her final two seasons and played nearly 2,700 minutes in that time while starting 30 games. In 2017 she made program history as she anchored a 1-0 shutout of Division I The Citadel at Laker Field and earned Peach Belt Conference Goalkeeper of the Week for that performance.
 
Off the field she was even more successful, becoming the first Laker, men's or women's, to be named PBC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, was a Clayton State Presidential Scholar all five years and graduated with a 3.93 GPA in Communication and Media Studies this past May. Charman has also been a PBC Presidential Honor Roll Gold Scholar from 2013-17 and a PBC All-Academic selection in each of the three seasons that she was eligible.
 
Additionally, she worked as a student assistant in the Sports Information Office, serving as a color commentator on soccer and basketball broadcasts. She also co-hosted the Clayton State Athletics Annual Banquet on a pair of occasions and had internships with Score Atlanta, Sportal Space and Atlanta United Fan TV.
 
JOY DIAZ
Diaz was just as impressive in her three seasons in the Orange and Blue, competing in cross country all three of those years and two indoor and outdoor track & field seasons.
 
Like Charman, she made history in that time, becoming just the third individual and fourth overall selection to earn Google Cloud Academic All-America honors. She collected Third-Team recognition for Cross Country/Track & Field and was one of just four honorees out of the 46 to do so while competing in only cross country in 2017.
 
That followed her second straight Academic All-District honor and her second consecutive Dotty H. Bumbalough and Pat Keane Academic Award. The latter is presented to the top academic student-athlete at Clayton State.
 
She was also named as a United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Academic Individual and helped Lakers cross country to its seventh straight team honor from that organization.
 
As a senior, Diaz became the first Clayton State student-athlete to earn a PBC Elite 15 Award as the top GPA at the league's cross country championships and also collected the third of her PBC All-Academic Team honors. In May she graduated degree in Performance Arts with a concentration in Theatre and Technical Theatre and a minor in Film – all with a perfect 4.0 GPA.
 
Diaz and Charman join Maia Kuhnen (2016) and Maria Marti Bartis (2017) as previous NCAA Woman of the Year nominees in Laker history. Kuhnen not only was advanced on the conference ballot but was part of the Top 30 that were invited to Indianapolis, Indiana. Of that group, she was among the 10 selected from Division II.
 
ABOUT THE NCAA WOMAN OF THE YEAR PROGRAM
In order to be in the running for NCAA Woman of the Year honors, eligible female student-athletes are nominated by their member school. Each conference office then reviews the nominations from its member schools and submits its conference nominee(s) to the NCAA.
 
The NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee then selects the Top 30 with 10 from each division and then three finalists from each division. The Committee on Women's Athletics then selects the winner from the top nine.
 
Charman and Diaz are among five nominees from Peach Belt Conference member institutions. Those include Deana Blankinship (North Georgia/Basketball), Morgan Sheehan (UNC Pembroke/Cross Country and Track & Field) and Lara Way (Augusta/Cross Country and Track & Field).
 
This is the 28^th year of the NCAA Woman of the Year award and it continues to set new records. This year there are a total of 581 nominees across all three divisions, with 251 from DI, 131 from DII and 199 from DIII.
 
NCAA Woman of the Year - Peach Belt Conference Nominees (X)
Clayton State – Jessica Charman (Soccer)
Clayton State – Joy Diaz (Cross Country and Track & Field)
North Georgia – Deana Blankinship (Basketball)
UNC Pembroke – Morgan Sheehan (Cross Country and Track & Field)
Augusta – Lara Way (Cross Country and Track & Field)