McDowell Selected as CAC’s 2009 NCAA Woman of the Year Candidate
York, Pa. - St. Mary's College of Maryland senior swimming All-American Brie McDowell (Wilton, Conn./Hatboro-Horsham [Pa.]) was selected by the Capital Athletic Conference Directors of Athletics as the conference's 2009 NCAA Woman of the Year as announced by CAC commissioner, Tom Byrnes, on June 24.
The NCAA Woman of the Year Award honors senior student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership. In August, the NCAA will announce the Top 10 honorees per division followed by the announcement of the Top 3 honorees per division in September. The national winner will be revealed at the NCAA Woman of the Year Awards dinner on October 18, 2009 in Indianapolis.
To be eligible for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award, student-athletes must have completed their intercollegiate eligibility in their primary sport by the end of the 2009 spring season; graduated no later than the end of the 2009 summer term; and achieved a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.50.
A biology major at St. Mary's, McDowell finished
her academic career with a 3.44 GPA and four appearances on the
Dean's List since transferring in from the University of Richmond
in Fall 2006. Inducted into both the Beta Beta Beta National
Biological and the Chi Alpha Sigma National College Athlete Honor
Societies, she served as the historian for TriBeta as well as a
teaching assistant for the Human Anatomy & Physiology
Lab. McDowell was a member of both the
College Swimming Coaches Association of America Division III
All-Academic and CAC All-Academic Teams during her career as a
Seahawk.
McDowell left the St. Mary's women's swimming program as one of the most decorated swimmers in school history. A two-time CAC Women's Swimmer of the Year, she was a five-time NCAA All-American with top 10 finishes in her two trips to the national championships in 2007 and 2009, including a fourth-place finish in the 200 backstroke at this year's NCAA championships. McDowell rewrote the annals of Seahawk women's swimming in 2009 as she set 12 out of a possible 19 school records, holding eight individual and four relay marks.
A two-time team captain, McDowell conducted numerous community service projects such as helping to develop the BLAST Lyme Disease Prevention Program in Connecticut and volunteering at the Women's Health and Birthing Unit at St. Mary's Hospital.
