SAN BRUNO, Calif. – Senior cross country and track and field standout Parkes Kendrick has been nominated for the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year award. Kendrick is one of three student-athletes from the West Coast Conference to be nominated, joining Pepperdine beach volleyball's Delaney Knudsen and San Diego volleyball's Lauren Schad.
 
"This is a well-deserved nomination for Parkes and we were really lucky that she decided to join our program," said head coach Ian Solof. "She brought a lot to our group in the short time she was on the team and I was so impressed with the seamless transition she made from soccer to running. The success she demonstrated is what we are all about: high level academics and nationally competitive D1 athletics. Parkes exemplified this perhaps better than anyone."
 
Kendrick, who was the 2016 WCC Sportsmanship Award Winner, competed for Portland's women's cross country and track and field programs, while posting an unblemished 4.00 GPA in mathematics, with minors in French and biology. A testament to her strong academic credentials, she was selected as a finalist for the prestigious 2017 Rhodes Scholarship, and she was named to the WCC All-Academic and MPSF All-Academic Teams. The Portland native landed on both of the CoSIDA Track and Field and Cross Country All-America Academic teams in 2016. Kendrick finished sixth overall at the 2016 WCC Cross Country Championships and was 32nd overall at the NCAA West Regional championships.
 
The NCAA Woman of the Year award honors graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in academics, athletics, service and leadership.
 
A record 543 female college athletes have been nominated by NCAA member schools for the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year award. 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 the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year from those nine.
 
The top 30 honorees will be recognized and the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced at the annual award ceremony Oct. 22 in Indianapolis.