INDIANAPOLIS - Former Dickinson women's cross country and track and field athlete Elaina Clancy has been chosen as one of the Top-30 finalist for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year as announced by the organization on Thursday afternoon.  

A two-sport standout for the Devils, Clancy put together an outstanding career in distance running. In the 2021 outdoor track & field season, she captured All-America honors in the 10,000 meters with a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championship. Earlier in the year, Clancy won Centennial gold in the 10k and claimed All-Region accolades in both the 10k and 5k. Her 10k time of 35:46.56 at the 2021 NCAA meet ranks second all-time at Dickinson and sixth in Centennial history. As a senior in 2022, Clancy finished as the conference runner-up in the 10k. During the 2021 cross country season, Clancy earned first-team all-conference accolades with a seventh-place individual finish at the CC meet. 

A law and policy major and economics minor from Boiling Springs, Pa., Clancy graduated this spring with a 3.83 cumulative grade point average. She was an annual member of the Dean's List at Dickinson (2018-22) and also earned the Harry Goldberg Prize for Military Science in 2019, awarded to the top cadet. 

While she sports an impressive athletic and academic resume, Clancy also boasts a lengthy list of accomplishments in leadership and community service positions. Clancy was a member of the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) from 2018-22, spending about 15 hours per week as part of the college-based officer training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. She displayed high levels of leadership as part of ROTC, climbing to the role of Battalion Commander - the highest ranking cadet in an 80-cadet battalion. Responsibilities of this position included overseeing battalion staff and coordinating community outreach events such as a Veteran's Day 5k race, Thanksgiving canned food drive, Habitat for Humanity fundraising day, and a volunteer field day with a local alternative school. Clancy was also a member of the Dickinson Student Senate from 2018-22 and class president, coordinating community-building events on campus and working with college administration to develop COVID-19 protocols for the return-to-campus throughout the pandemic. In 2021-22, she was one of just eight Dickinson student-athletes appointed to the Hera Honor Society, a group that seeks to empower and unite female-identifying student athletes through their eight core values of scholarship, leadership, equality, service, integrity, sportsmanship, tenacity, and resiliency. Clancy was the main coordinator of Yellow Breeches Field Day, a volunteer mentorship day with a local school, and was also responsible for building a female student-athlete mentorship program on campus, helping facilitate connections among the athletics community. Other campus leadership roles for Clancy included working as a teaching assistant in the economics department, serving on the honor board of Delta Nu, and serving as a student representative on the Academic Program and Standards Committee and Student Life Committee. 

From the NCAA Release:

Selected from 577 school nominees — a group that was then narrowed to 156 nominees at the conference level — the Top 30 honorees include 10 from each of the three NCAA divisions. Each honoree has demonstrated excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership. The honorees represent 14 sports and include nine multisport student-athletes. They have a variety of majors, including biological and biomedical engineering, psychology, business, digital communications, education, nursing, law and policy, and robotics.

"As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Title IX, we recognize the impact of women on college sports and are honored to select 30 incredible student-athletes who have played instrumental roles on their campus, in their community and on their teams," said Renie Shields, chair of the Woman of the Year Selection Committee and senior associate athletics director/senior woman administrator at Saint Joseph's. "This accomplished and diverse group of women represent the millions of student-athletes who have participated in the strong history of women's sports."

The selection committee will select three honorees from each NCAA division, for a total of nine finalists. From those finalists, the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will choose the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year.

For the first time in the award's history, the NCAA Woman of the Year will be named and the Top 30 will be celebrated at the NCAA Convention, which will be held in January in San Antonio.

Established in 1991, the award recognizes female student-athletes who have completed their undergraduate studies and distinguished themselves in their community, in athletics and in academics throughout their college careers.

Full List of Finalists