Smatlak Nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year by HCAC

Anderson University women's track and field standout Emily Smatlak was selected as one of two student-athletes to be nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year by the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC), which was announced by the conference on Monday.

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.

"This is a fantastic award for Emily Smatlak to receive," Coach Sol Stephens said. "As I've said before, she is the epitome of what a teammate is and should be. For the entire HCAC to acknowledge her is beyond words. They've seen her fill whatever role needed for the program to the best of her ability week in and week out for three years. Also, this shows the grit behind the scenes and scoresheets of the type of spectacular kids we've been blessed to have in our program. This award makes us all proud."

"I feel very honored to be selected to represent our conference among so many great student-athletes across our conference and NCAA Division III," Smatlak added. "I am especially proud to have the opportunity to represent AU as I have been blessed with a supportive track team community and fantastic coaches, both of which have helped me grow in so many different ways. I am confident that the skills and mentality that I have developed through track will be very useful in the coming years."

Smatlak boasts a decorated athletic career at Anderson to go with an outstanding academic career.  She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Anderson with a degree in National Security Studies and Psychology with a cumulative grade point average of 3.93. On the athletic side, Smatlak captured 18th in the javelin in two different NCAA Championships, once during the 2019 season and again in 2021, with a throw of 36.95 meters (121 feet, 2.75 inches). In the 2021 season she also fired the javelin a school-record distance of 42.10 meters (138 feet, 1.5 inches) to rank 14th in the nation. She secured the HCAC Field Athlete of the Week three times in 2021 and was also honored with the same award as a sophomore.

Smatlak earned USTFCCCA All-Region honors in two different seasons (2019, 2021) and was twice named a USTFCCCA All-Academic Individual (2019, 2021). She received six Academic All-HCAC honors, was a member of the Dean's List every semester in attendance at Anderson and was named to the HCAC Sportsmanship Team four different seasons. Smatlak has also served her community in several different capacities, with over 1,450 hours of community service reported over her career at Anderson.

The NCAA is scheduled to announce its top 30 candidates for NCAA Woman of the Year in September, which will consist of the top 10 nominees in each division.