John Carroll University student-athletes Lauren O'Malley and Ashura Powell are two of the record 585 female college athletes who were nominated by NCAA member schools for the prestigious 2019 NCAA Woman of the Year award.

Established in 1991, the NCAA Woman of the Year award recognizes graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their collegiate careers.

O'Malley (tennis) and Powell (track & field) were both incredibly deserving candidates based on that criteria.

An Early Childhood Education major who graduated in May with 4.00 grade point average, O'Malley was chosen as the 2018-19 Google Cloud Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year for the Women's Division III At-Large Team, becoming just the third JCU athlete to earn that distinction.

A four-year letterwinner for the John Carroll women's tennis team, O'Malley was named Ohio Athletic Conference Player of the Year four times, collected All-OAC first team accolades four times, picked up Academic All-OAC honors three times, and earned OAC Player of the Week ten times. She qualified for three NCAA Division III Championship tournaments and earned ITA Division III All-American honors three times. She also led her team to four consecutive OAC regular season and tournament titles.

Last month, O'Malley became the first John Carroll student-athlete in any sport to receive the NCAA ELITE 90 Award. The ELITE 90 is an award presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA's 90 championships at all levels.

She ended her career with a spectacular 111-10 record in singles competition, and combined with her 70 doubles wins, graduates as the all-time leader in total victories in JCU women's tennis history with 181 triumphs.

An Exercise Science major who graduated in May with a 3.58 grade point average, Powell was a 16-time all-conference performer and a four-time conference champion as well as a two-time national qualifier covering both indoor and outdoor track & field at John Carroll. 

Powell qualified for the Division III outdoor national championships in 2018 as an individual in the 400-meter dash, and in 2019 as a member of the 4 x 400 relay. She also earned the United States Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCA) All-Academic Award in 2017 and 2018, and Academic All-OAC in 2017, 2018, and 2019. She was also an all-region performer a total of four times over the past two seasons.

In 2017, Powell was an Arthur Ashe Sports Scholar Award honoree. At John Carroll, she was part of the Arrupe Scholars program and was involved with the Minority Association of Premedical Students, Black Students for Action and the peer mentor program

Her crowning achievement came in 2019, when her senior leadership was instrumental in delivering John Carroll its first OAC championship in the history of the women's track and field program when the Blue Streaks finished first at the 2019 league outdoor meet.

O'Malley and Powell are two of the 192 Woman of the Year Award nominees from Division III. They will also represent the Ohio Athletic Conference as they were the only two nominees hailing from the conference this year (each conference is permitted to put forward two candidates).

The next step in the process for the two Blue Streak standouts will take place when the Woman of the Year selection committee convenes. Made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, this committee will choose the Top 30 honorees — 10 from each division.

The selection committee will then determine the top three honorees in each division from the Top 30 and announce the nine finalists in September. From those nine finalists, the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics then will choose the 2019 NCAA Woman of the Year.

The Top 30 honorees will be celebrated and the 2019 NCAA Woman of the Year will be named at the annual award ceremony which will take place on October 20 in Indianapolis, Indiana.