Bolton Nominated for 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year

NCAA Release

Jill Bolton of the Liberty field hockey program has been nominated for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year award.

Bolton is one of 30 nominees who compete in a sport that is not sponsored by the school’s primary conference or compete for an independent school. The non-conference/independent nominees are being reviewed by a committee, and next Thursday, five will be named to move forward in the process to complete the conference-level pool of 156 nominees.

A total of 151 student-athletes are currently in the conference-level listing. A total of 577 nominees were submitted by NCAA members schools, with 547 of those sent to conferences to select their nominees for consideration for the NCAA Woman of the Year award.

Last month, Bolton was honored as a Top 12 Finalist for the prestigious 2022 Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year at The 46th Annual Collegiate Women’s Sports Awards (CWSA) Show in Los Angeles, Calif. She was tabbed the 2022 Honda Sport Award winner for field hockey in January, the first Liberty student-athlete in any sport to receive a Honda Sport Award.

Bolton’s other career accomplishments include:

• 2021 National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division I National Player of the Year

• Three-time NFHCA All-American (first team in spring and fall 2021, third team in 2019)

• 2021 NFHCA South Region Player of the Year

• 2021 BIG EAST Championship MVP

• 2021 NCAA Field Hockey Championship All-Tournament team

• 2022 Liberty Athletics Rock Royer/Mac Rivera Award winner

• Five-time All-BIG EAST first team honoree

• Five-time NFHCA All-Region selection (three first team, two second team honors)

• Two-time VaSID Player of the Year

• Five-time VaSID All-State (four first team, one second team)

• Three-time BIG EAST All-Tournament team

• Three-time NFHCA Division I Offensive Player of the Week

• Six-time BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week

• Program record holder in goals (61) and points (156), ranked third in career assists (34)

• Guided Liberty to a nation-best 20 wins in fall 2021 and its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Field Hockey Championship title game

• Earned bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies in May 2021 and earned a graduate certificate in management & leadership in Dec. 2021

• 2021 BIG EAST All-Academic team

• Led Liberty to nation-best 20 wins this fall and its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Field Hockey Championship title game. Bolton and the Lady Flames reached an NCAA Elite 8, Final Four and championship game for the first time in any sport in Liberty Athletics history.

The Woman of the Year Selection Committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will choose 10 nominees from each division to make up the national Top 30 Honorees. Those Top 30 honorees will be announced in October. From there, the selection committee will narrow the pool to three finalists from each division. The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics will choose the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year from the nine finalists.

The National Top 30 honorees will be celebrated at January’s NCAA Convention in San Antonio, Texas, with the NCAA Woman of the Year award being announced as well.

The NCAA Woman of the Year program is rooted in Title IX and has recognized graduating female college athletes for excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership since its inception in 1991. For more information about the program and previous winners, please visit ncaa.org/woty.