Pomainville Recognized as conference honoree for 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year award
Information Courtesy of Geneseo Athletic Communications & Media Relations
Geneseo women's cross country and track and field star Emily Pomainville '21 represents the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) and the Knights as the nominee for the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year award.
The NCAA Woman of the Year program honors graduating student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership. Pomainville was chosen by conference officials and an independent selection committee from the pool of SUNYAC nominees and will move on to the national selection as one of 152 conference nominees from all divisions of the NCAA. Pomainville becomes the fifth-consecutive Knight to earn NCAA Woman of the Year conference-level nominee status, following Taylor Clar '20, Elise Ramirez '19, Kristen Homeyer '18 and Kara Houppert '17.
Emily Pomainville was selected as the Dr. Dolores Bogard Award winner, an honor bestowed to the senior female student-athlete with the best combination of academic and athletic ability in the SUNYAC earlier this summer. She also became the Knights' 11th CoSIDA Academic All-America selection, earning First Team honors. Pomainville set the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships ablaze with an NCAA Division III record in the 1,500. She went on to win the NCAA National Championship in the event and doubled back to finish an All-American second in the 800 just over an hour later. Pomainville was named the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association (USTFCCCA) Track Athlete of the Year and was tabbed one of six national finalists for the Honda/College Sports Women's Asssociation (CWSA) Division III Athlete of the Year. Pomainville was a part of nine SUNYAC Championship teams across women's cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field. Pomainville's teams won every SUNYAC championship that they competed in throughout her career.
Pomainville was named SUNYAC Track Athlete of the Year and SUNYAC Women's Outdoor Track and Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year as well. She completed her degree this spring with a 3.80 cumulative GPA in English Literature and Gender & Women Studies, was a four-time SUNYAC Commissioner's List honoree, a seven-time Dean's List honoree and was inducted into the English Honors Society, Sigma Tau Delta, as well. Pomainville also presented a pair of academic papers at Geneseo Great Day and was approved to present her paper on feminist theories in African Literature at the National Convention for Undergraduate Research before it was cancelled due to the pandemic.
Over 500 female student-athletes were nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year honors. Pomainville will seek to become the first Knight named a finalist as a selection committee will pare the list down to 10 honorees from each division, before narrowing those 30 names down to three honorees from each division. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will then select a winner from those final nine. For more information about the NCAA Woman of the Year Award, visit NCAA.org.
