Illinois Wesleyan University's Elizabeth Ave Maria was named the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin's 2011 "Woman of the Year" on Tuesday, June 28.

A member of the Titans' cross country and track & field teams, Ave Maria was chosen through a voting process conducted by the CCIW Senior Woman Administrators and Faculty Athletics Representatives. She was chosen among a group of three other nominees including Elmhurst's Amanda Bowlin (softball), North Park's Colleen Horgan (golf) and Augustana's Courtney Jungnickel (volleyball).

Ave Maria (Morton Grove, Ill./Regina Dominican High School) will now represent the conference as a nominee for the 2011 NCAA Woman of the Year award and will be honored by the CCIW with a plaque to commemorate this recognition.

The NCAA Woman of the Year award honors senior female student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership.

This is the third year in a row and fourth time in the six years of the award that the honor has gone to an Illinois Wesleyan student-athlete. Melinda Sprague (cross country/track and field) was the 2006 recipient while women's golfers Nicole Spear (2009) and Lindsey Haines (2010) have won the past two years.

Ave Maria, a psychology/chemistry major with a 3.91 grade-point average, was a team captain on both the Titans' cross country and track and field teams during the 2010-11 season. She placed second at the 2010 CCIW Cross Country Championship and was part of Illinois Wesleyan's 2008 and 2010 indoor track & field national championship teams as well as the 2010 outdoor track and field national championship team.

She was a member of the Dean's List all four years of college. She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi National Honors Societies along with Psi Chi Psychology Honors Society. Ave Maria also tutored in the Illinois Wesleyan Chemistry Department as well as at a local middle school and high school.

Ave Maria's nomination will be forwarded to the NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee, which will select the top 10 winners in each of the three divisions of the NCAA. From among those 30 honorees, the selection committee will determine the top three in each division. Finally, the members of the Committee on Women's Athletics will vote from among the top nine to determine the 2011 NCAA Woman of the Year. The top 10 honorees and the nine finalists from Divisions I, II and III will be honored and the 2010 NCAA Woman of the Year winner will be announced at a dinner in Indianapolis October 16, 2011.