Former Oklahoma Sooner T&F star a finalist for Woman of the Year
By Chip Rouse
A former Oklahoma Sooner standout in track and field is one of the finalists for 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
Jenny Carmichael, who competed in the discus and competed her eligibility this past season, is one of nine finalists for the national honor. Carmichael is vying for the award with three finalists from each of the three NCAA divisions.
The honor is bestowed annually to the woman student-athlete who best demonstrates excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership.
Win or lose, this is a tremendous individual achievement and recognition of the highest order for the University of Oklahoma.
According to the administrators of the NCAA Woman of the Year Award, the candidate list for this year’s award began with 543 nominations from NCAA-affiliated institutions. That list was narrowed to 145 candidates by the conferences in August, and earlier this month the selection committee named 30 semifinalists.
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Carmichael posted a personal best of 163-feet, 2-inches in the discus throw at the 2017 Big 12 Track and Field Championship. She finished in eighth place in the event. She also competed in the 2013 and 2016 Big 12 Championship (she redshirted in 2014).
A native Oklahoman, from Tulsa, Carmichael graduated with summa cum laude distinction with a bachelor’s degree in engineering. She maintained a 4.0 grade-point average and was a 10-time honoree on the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll
She was president of OU’s Student-Athlete Student Advisory Committee. She was nominated by that committee in the 2015-16 school year to serve on the Homecoming Court. She became the first student-athlete at Oklahoma to be named to the Homecoming Court as one of the finalists for homecoming queen.
One week after being named a homecoming queen finalist, Carmichael was named Outstanding Senior Women at the University of Oklahoma, the first time a Sooner student athlete has been so honored.
In addition to her athletic prowess and her excellence in the classroom, Carmichael received the Sooner Oath Award, given to a male and a female student-athlete who best demonstrate the leadership, sportsmanship, strong moral character and Sooner pride encompassed within the Sooner Oath.
Through Sooners in Haiti, she sponsored five children in Haiti and through another service organization, Compassion International, Carmichael sponsored a child from Peru.
Carmichael joins gymnast basketball player Phylesha Whaley (2000) and gymnast Brittney Koncak-Schumann (2007) as the only Sooner student athletes to be named finalists for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
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The NCAA Committee on Women’s Excellence will announce the winner of the national award on Oct. 22 at a ceremony in Indianapolis.