Akinniyi and Nelson Selected as Nominees for Prestigious NCAA Woman of the Year Program

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The NCAA has announced that former Southern Miss women's soccer and track and field student-athlete Ola Akinniyi and softball student-athlete Chase Nelson have been named finalists for the prestigious NCAA Woman of the Year program.

Southern Miss Senior Associate Director of Athletics for Olympic Sports and Senior Woman's Administrator Sonya R. Varnell on Akinniyi and Nelson
"Every year we have a number of outstanding female student-athletes to select from for this award. Ola and Chase were only two of those young women. I have seen both of them grow into amazing young people both on and off the field. Each has represented herself and our University as a role model for all students to emulate. They are proven leaders, and will be successful in their careers after sports. I wish them well in their next phase of life."

Akinniyi and Nelson who graduated from Southern Miss in May of 2019 with bachelor's degrees in architectural engineering and communication studies respectively, were among 585 NCAA student-athletes over the span of all three divisions to earn the honor.

The NCAA Woman of the Year program is designed to honor the academic achievements, athletics excellence, community service and leadership of female athletes who have graduated from an NCAA institution.

In order to be eligible for the program, a nominee must have competed and earned a varsity letter in an NCAA-sponsored sport, must have completed eligibility in her primary sport, and must have earned her undergraduate degree by Summer 2019.

Eligible female student-athletes are originally nominated by their member schools. After student-athletes are nominated by their member schools, each conference office then reviews the nominations from its core member schools and submits its conference nominees to the NCAA.

The NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee identifies the top 30 nominees, 10 from each division (Division I, Division II and Division III). After the 10 nominees are selected, three finalists are selected from each division, composing the group of nine finalists. The Committee on Women's Athletics then selects the winner from the nine finalists.

All 30 Woman of the Year honorees will be recognized, and the 2019 Woman of the Year announced, at an awards dinner at the Westin Indianapolis on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2019.

After her illustrious playing career at Southern Miss, Akinniyi is widely regarded as one of, if not the best player, in the history of the women's soccer program.

The list of accomplishments both on and off of the field for the Denton, Texas native is long, making it easy to see why she is a prime candidate to be selected as a nominee.

Akinniyi is the first player in the history of the Southern Miss women's soccer program to be named to the 2018 United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Women's All-South Region First Team. She is also the only player in the history of the program to be selected to the C-USA Women's Soccer All-Conference First Team twice.

Akinniyi's other highlights on the pitch include: 2018 Preseason C-USA First Team selection, 2017 team MVP, leading goal scorer for Southern Miss in 2017 and 2017 Defensive Player of the Year.

Serving as the team captain and a defender for the 2018 season, Akinniyi capped off her historical career by helping lead the Golden Eagles to their most successful season in program history.

With the help of Akinniyi's play and leadership, Southern Miss earned its first berth in the C-USA Women's Soccer Tournament for the first time since 2007. During their tournament run, the Golden Eagles knocked off No. 3 seed UAB 1-0 in the quarterfinals and No. 2 seed FAU 1-0 in the semifinals to advance to the championship match where they faced No. 1 seed North Texas. The Golden Eagles' semifinal victory and appearance in the championship match were both firsts for the Southern Miss women's soccer program. Southern Miss' 2018 squad ended the season with a program-record, 13 wins and 11 shutouts.

After wrapping up her soccer career, Akinniyi took her talents to another sport and competed for the Southern Miss Track & Field team as a senior in the Spring of 2019. Akinniyi placed in the top 10 in the women's 400m outdoor at the Jaguar Invitational hosted by South Alabama and she also competed in the 400m indoor, 1600 SMR, 200m and the 4x400m relay for the Golden Eagles over the course of the 2019 season.

In the classroom, Akinniyi racked up a long list of awards including: The Jim Castañeda Postgraduate Scholarship, Southern Miss President's List honoree, Dean's List honoree, C-USA Commissioner's Academic Medal recipient, C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll, C-USA Women's Soccer All-Academic First Team the Yates Construction Scholarship and she was a CoSIDA Division I Academic All-District 6.

On the campus of Southern Miss, Akinniyi was involved with various organizations including: the Southern Miss Leadership Academy, the Outward Bound Leadership Capstone, FCA, Sigma Lambda Chi ALPHA, Southern Miss Student Constructors, and Design Build Institute of America. Akinniyi also served as the historian for the African Caribbean Students Organization, as well as a parliamentarian of the Southern Miss SAAC (Student-Athlete Advisory Committee).

Throughout her four years at Southern Miss, Akinniyi served the Hattiesburg community through her involvement in the Hattiesburg Paralympics, the One Love Foundation, the Boys & Girls Club, Toys for Tots, Read Across America, Live at Five, assisting with canned food drives and she was also part of the Southern Miss Student-Athlete Advisory Committee that helped raise funds to purchase HOPE Kits for breast cancer patients currently undergoing treatment.

Akinniyi is currently pursuing a Master of Science degree in Architecture at the University of Miami.

Akinniyi on being named a nominee for NCAA Woman of the Year
"I feel honored to have been nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year. There are so many phenomenal athletes in the association and to be recognized for all of the hard work that we put in on and off the field is a blessing. You are more than just an athlete, you have an opportunity to promote a platform. I wanted to excel off the field as bad as I wanted to excel on the field, and I want that for others as well. To know that you can be blessed with a gift in one walk of life does not mean that alone defines you. That is something the NCAA helped me promote through being a student-athlete. My family, former teammates, coaches and athletic administrators were all to account for that. My main goal in life is to be able to look back and be proud of the paths that I chose to walk and this path will definitely go down as a milestone for me."

Nelson, a former standout second baseman for the Southern Miss softball team, racked up her fair share of accolades over the course of her three years. Nelson transferred to Southern Miss from the University of Missouri in the Fall of 2016.

During her senior campaign in 2019, Nelson helped lead Southern Miss to its first appearance in the C-USA Tournament and its first 30-win season since 2016. The Golden Eagles finished the 2018 season ranked third in the C-USA West Division.

Nelson saved her best season for last, posting a .322 batting average (49-for-152) accompanied by 32 runs scored, nine doubles, two triples, eight runs batted in, 62 total bases, 20 walks, five stolen bases, a .408 slugging percentage and a .403 on-base percentage. Nelson was also solid in the middle infield, finishing the season with a .972 fielding percentage. She was awarded the Golden Standard Award (voted on by the team and awarded annually to a player who encompasses what Southern Miss softball stands for) for her efforts during the 2019 season.

With Nelson's aid, Southern Miss captured signature wins over Michigan State, UT Arlington, Sam Houston State, LA Tech, North Texas, Marshall, Nicholls and McNeese State in 2019.

Nelson starred as a student as well, garnering multiple academic accolades including: C-USA Softball All-Academic Team selection, Southern Miss President's List honoree, C-USA Commissioner's Academic Medal recipient and C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll.

As a student-athlete, Nelson was a member of the Southern Miss Leadership Academy the Outward Bound Leadership Capstone.

Nelson also spent numerous hours volunteering with organizations in the Hattiesburg community including: the YMCA, the Hattiesburg Visitor's Center, Grace Christian Elementary School, the Special Olympics, Hurricane Harvey Relief, Pine Belt Walk to End Alzheimer's and Operation Christmas Child.

In addition, the senior second baseman was awarded Southern Miss' Voyageur Outward Bound Award and was selected as a Who's Who on the campus of Southern Miss.

Nelson is currently employed as a territory manager for Pfizer in the Jackson, Mississippi area.

Nelson on being selected as a nominee for NCAA Woman of the Year
"It is such an honor to be recognized as a nominee for NCAA Woman of the Year. I am truly blessed to be surrounded by empowered women from all over. I am forever indebted to Southern Miss for all of the opportunities and paths that were created for me. Each and every person, experience, etc. shaped who I am today, and for that, I am so grateful. SMTTT!"

For all of the latest news regarding Southern Miss athletics, fans can follow the official Southern Miss athletics Twitter account (@USMGoldenEagles), Instagram account (@southernmissathletics) and Facebook account (Southern Miss Athletics).

Akinniyi and Nelson Selected as Nominees for Prestigious NCAA Woman of the Year Program

Players Mentioned

Ola Akinniyi

Chase Nelson

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