Indianapolis, Ind. - University of Wisconsin-La Crosse senior Bria Halama of Independence (H.S.) has been nominated for the 2016 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Woman of the Year Award.  NCAA member colleges and universities have nominated 517 student-athletes, the most ever in the history of the program.

Now in its 26th year, 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.

Of the nominees, 231 competed in NCAA Division I, 117 competed in Division II and 169 competed in Division III athletics.

The NCAA encourages member schools to honor its top graduating female student-athletes each year by submitting their names for consideration for the Woman of the Year Award.  Then, conferences assess each nominee's eligibility and select up to two conference nominees. All conference nominees are forwarded to the Woman of the Year selection committee, which chooses the top 30 honorees – 10 from each division.

From the top 30, the selection committee determines the top three nominees from each division and announces the top nine finalists in September.  The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics then chooses from among those nine to determine the 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year.

The 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year winner will be announced, and the Top 30 honorees celebrated, at the annual award ceremony Sunday, October 16 in Indianapolis.

A therapeutic recreation, pre-occupational therapy major, Halama possesses a 3.82 grade point average. She was named to the 2014-15 Academic All-America® Women's Track & Field/Cross Country First Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).  Halama was selected to the 2015-16 Academic All-District™ Six Women's Track & Field/Cross Country Team as voted by CoSIDA.  The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) has tabbed her as the NCAA Division III Scholar-Athlete of the Year on three occasions (2013-14 indoor; 2014-15 indoor and outdoor).

She received the 2016 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Judy Kruckman Scholar-Athlete Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Award and is a two-time member of the WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll.
 
Halama earned 11 career NCAA Division III All-America honors, including four individual national titles in the triple jump.  She captured the indoor triple jump in 2014 and 2015 and the outdoor crown in 2015 and 2016.  Halama placed third in the triple jump at the 2016 NCAA III Indoor Championship and second at the 2014 national outdoor meet.

She was a member of two NCAA III indoor champion 4x400-meter relays in 2014 and 2015 to give her six career national titles.  Halama was on the fourth-place 4x400-meter relay at the 2015 outdoor national championships.  She also earned two career All-America accolades in the 400-meter dash, placing fifth indoors in 2014 and third outdoors in 2015.

UW-La Crosse finished in the top-six in all six NCAA III Championships with Halama, including sweeping the 2015 indoor and outdoor national titles.  The Eagles also placed second (2014) and sixth (2016) indoors at the NCAA III Championships and fourth (2014, 2016) outdoors.

At this year's WIAC Outdoor Championship, Halama established a conference meet record of 41-5 1/4 to win the triple jump for the second straight year and added a first-place finish in the 400-meter dash.  She helped lead UW-La Crosse to its fifth straight outdoor championship at UW-Whitewater.  

Halama helped the Eagles to their fourth straight WIAC indoor championship in 2016 as a member of the winning distance medley relay and placing second in the triple jump.  She was also on the Eagles' second-place 4x400-meter relay.

Halama holds school records in the outdoor triple jump (42-2 3/4) and outdoor 400-meter dash (54.83). She also holds the school records in the indoor triple jump (40-9 1/2) and as a member of the 4x400-meter relay (3:45.25). In 2015, she was named UW-La Crosse's Female Athlete of the Year and the team's Co-Most Outstanding Junior.  Halama was selected the team's Co-Most Outstanding Sophomore in 2014.
 
A member of the Eta Phi Alpha Honors Society, Halama is also a member of UW-La Crosse's Therapeutic Recreation Club and Pre-Occupational Therapy Club. She has volunteered with Mayo Clinic, Easter Seals, Special Olympics and a Pre-K school program.

Halama is one of three nominations from the WIAC for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award, joining UW-Platteville's Allison Wells (cross country, track & field) and UW-Whitewater's Jenna Woodson (soccer).