Nicole Tan Earns Nomination for NCAA Woman of the Year Award

CLAREMONT, Calif. – Senior Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's tennis player Nicole Tan earned a nomination for the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year Award, which honors the academic achievements, athletics excellence, community service and leadership of outstanding female college athletes, the organization announced today.

Tan had a major impact on the CMS women's tennis program from the moment she arrived on campus from Singapore in 2016-17. As a first-year, she was named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Rookie of the Year after compiling an undefeated singles record (17-0) during the spring season. She went on to play No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles on the 2018 CMS national champion team as a sophomore, the program's first-ever national title, and as a junior, she finished as the national runner-up in the NCAA Division III Doubles Championship for the second time in her career after also reaching the finals in 2017.

Over Tan's four seasons, CMS ended the year ranked No. 3, No. 1, No. 2 and No. 1 in the country, which are the top four finishes in program history. This year's team was 14-0 and ranked No. 1 nationally when spring sports were suspended in March, preventing Tan and the Athenas from making a run at their second national championship in the last three years, after finishing as a close runner-up to Wesleyan (Conn) a year ago with a 5-4 defeat in the finals.

In the classroom, Tan graduated from Claremont McKenna with a 3.87 grade point average in neuroscience, and was a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-America selection. She earned third-team Academic All-America honors as a junior last year and then captured first-team honors this spring, becoming only the sixth First-Team Academic All-America selection in CMS athletics history in any sport (and the second women's tennis player, joining Kristin Lim). Tan will be attending Duke University-National University of Singapore medical school in the fall.

Tan also impacted the community on campus and beyond during her career. She volunteered every week at a local hospice facility near Claremont for the last two years, and volunteered at a similar facility in Singapore every week during the summer months. In addition, she served as a mentor with the Asian Pacific American Mentoring program (APAM), a CMC organization that provides support for first year and transfer students who identify as APIDA (Asian Pacific Islander Desi American).

The NCAA announced a record of over 600 Woman of the Year nominations from all three divisions, and its NCAA Woman of the Year committee will name 30 semifinalists in September (10 from each division). Tan was one of two student-athletes chosen by the SCIAC (along with Jessica Fields of Redlands women's track and field) to represent the league among the national semifinalist nominees. The Committee on Women's Athletics will then choose nine finalists (three from each division), before the award winner is revealed on November 1.

To view more information about the NCAA Woman of the Year program, go to the following link:

NCAA Woman of the Year