STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford swimmers represent two of the four Honda Award nominees. Junior Simone Manuel and freshman Katie Ledecky are both on the ballot for the Honda Sport Award as announced by the Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA) on Thursday.
Cal's Kathleen Baker and Indiana's lilly King are the other nominees. The winner will be will be announced next week after voting by administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools, and will become a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the prestigious 2017 Honda Cup which will be presented on a live telecast on CBS Sports Network on Monday, June 26 in downtown Los, Angeles.
Simone Manuel
Manuel, who made history at the Rio Olympics as the first African-American woman to win an individual gold medal in swimming, continued to rewrite the record books at the the NCAA level. At the NCAA Championships, the Sugar Land, Texas, native won four national titles, earned the maximum seven All-America honors, set three American relay records (200, 400, 800 free) and became the first woman to break 46 seconds in the 100-yard freestyle (45.56). A communication major, Manuel was a Pac-12 All-Academic selection, and won seven conference titles at the Pac-12 Championships. She finished undefeated in the 100 free during Stanford's 8-0 dual meet season. The four-time Olympic medalist (two gold, two silver), has now totaled eight NCAA titles, 14 All-America honors and 10 Pac-12 championships in her first two seasons at Stanford. On Tuesday, she was named the Pac-12 Swimmer of the Year.
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Katie Ledecky
The most decorated American female athlete at the Rio Olympic Games (four golds, one silver and two World Records), nine-time World Champion and two-time Olympian, Ledecky capped one of the most impressive freshman campaigns in NCAA history with five national titles, the most in the nation, at the NCAA Championships. The Bethesda, Maryland native was the first NCAA swimmer in 29 years to capture individual NCAA titles in the 200, 500 and 1650-free, and was a member of Stanford's American record-setting 400 free and 800 free relays. A five-time All-American, Ledecky broke the American and NCAA record in the 500 free, and bested her own NCAA mark in the 1000 free en route to the national title in the 1650 free, an event she won by more than 20 seconds. Ledecky won four conference titles (all in American record time) at the Pac-12 Championships, was named the Pac-12 Championship Swimmer of the Meet, and was the only swimmer twice named Pac-12 Swimmer of the Month in the course of Stanford's undefeated dual meet season. In total, over the course of her first season at Stanford, Ledecky set five individual American records and seven individual NCAA records in three different events, and broke Stanford team records in five different individual events. A standout in the classroom as well, Ledecky has now broken 13 World Records and 30 American Records in her swimming career.
Ledecky and Manuel led Stanford to its first national championship since 1998 and 10th overall, most in the nation. The Cardinal had 13 different All-Americans combine for 47 All-America honors, seven individual national championships and three relay titles during the four-day NCAA championship meet. Stanford also finished unbeaten in the regular season (8-0, 7-0 Pac-12) for the second straight year, and won its first Pac-12 Conference crown since 2013. Head Coach Greg Meehan was named the NCAA and Pac-12 Swimming Coach of the Year.
The Honda Sport Award has been presented annually by the CWSA for the past 41 years to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA- sanctioned sports and signifies "the best of the best in collegiate athletics". Honda Sport award winners will be presented with the honor during on-campus presentations throughout the year and all Honda Sport award winners become a finalist for the prestigious 2017 Honda Cup award presented in June.
The Collegiate Women Sports Awards has honored the nation's top NCAA women athletes for 41 years, recognizing superior athletic skills, leadership, academic excellence and eagerness to participate in community service. Since commencing its sponsorship in 1986, Honda has provided more than $3.5 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees to support women's athletics programs at the institutions.
WHAT'S AHEAD
This Stanford duo is among the Cardinal swimmers who are planning to return to Indianapolis to compete at the U.S. World Championships Trials, June 28-July 2. Those that qualify will head to the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, where Meehan will serve as head coach for Team USA, July 14-30.
SOCIAL SCENE
For the latest updates, you can follow Cardinal women's swimming and diving all year long on instagram, twitter and snapchat (@StanfordWSwim).
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