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2005-2006 News
 

Merrill-Johnson Named NCAA Woman of the Year for Montana (9/2/05)

BILLINGS, MT – Former Montana State University-Billings women’s soccer standout Margot Merrill-Johnson has been selected as the NCAA Woman of the Year for the state of Montana.  The campaign to crown the 15th annual NCAA Woman of the Year began this week with the selection of 51 state winners, including representatives from Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.  Merrill-Johnson is the first Woman of the Year state winner from Montana State-Billings.

The NCAA Woman of the Year recognizes outstanding female student-athletes who have excelled in academics, athletics and community leadership.  Chosen by a committee of representatives from member institutions, 29 of the 2005 state honorees are from Division I, while 16 represent Division II and six are from Division III.  They represent 15 sports.

The committee of institutional representatives also will select 10 finalists from the 51 state winners, based on grade-point average, athletics achievement and community service.  The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will chose the national winner from among the 10 finalists.  Finalists will be revealed in the September 26 issue of The NCAA News.

The 2005 NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced during the annual awards dinner October 29 in Indianapolis.  ESPN personality Danielle Sargent and Kara Lawson, former University of Tennessee, Knoxville, women's basketball standout and a 2003 Woman of the Year top-10 finalist currently playing in the WNBA, will serve as emcees for the evening.  As part of the Woman of the Year weekend of activities, honorees will be working with youth and the Association's character-building program Stay in Bounds at the NCAA Hall of Champions.

This year's state winners were chosen from a pool of 352 nominations, 76 more than in 2004 and the most since 2000, when there also were 352 candidates for the honor.  Division I submitted 188 applications.  Fifty-six nominations came from Division II and 111 were received from Division III.  The numbers represent increases in submissions for all three divisions over last year.

Merrill-Johnson was a double major in History and Sociology and graduated last spring with a 3.90 cumulative grade point average.  She played in and started every game of her collegiate soccer career, setting the school record for both at 70 games.  In 2004, Merrill-Johnson scored a school-record 11 goals and 28 points en route to breaking the MSU Billings career points record.  Of her 30 career goals, 11 were game-winners.  The Yellowjackets finished the 2004 season with an overall record of 12-4-3.  It was the first winning season in the program’s history.  MSU Billings also achieved its first ever regional ranking in 2004, finishing the season ranked tenth in the NCAA Far West Region.

In addition to starring on the soccer team, Merrill-Johnson also played on the women’s tennis team at MSU Billings.  She was a two-time Scholar Athlete of the Year in soccer and a three-time Scholar Athlete of the Year in tennis.  Merrill-Johnson earned three prestigious national honors last year.  In the fall she was named to the soccer Academic All-America First Team by the College Sports Information Directors of America.  At the end of the academic year Merrill-Johnson received one of 56 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships worth $7,500.  She is currently using that scholarship to attend law school at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.  Additionally, she was named as the Collegiate Commissioners Association West Region female student-athlete of the year and a finalist for the CCA National Scholar Athlete of the Year.

Merrill-Johnson’s resume from her time at MSU Billings included a wide variety of activities outside of athletics.  She was a member of the MSU Billings Honors Program for all four years.  She belonged to the Sociology Club for four years, serving as its Vice President for one year.  Merrill-Johnson served as the President of the MSU Billings Latter-Day Saint Student Association each of her four years at the school.  She also worked as the MSU Billings Student Union building manager for two years.  In the little free time she had left over, Merrill-Johnson also volunteered for the YWCA Children’s Program domestic violence shelter and worked as a volunteer for youth soccer camps and tennis lessons.

In her personal statement on the Woman of the Year nomination form, Merrill-Johnson said, “Successful athletics require hard work, dedication, and passion.  Learning to love these qualities drove my athletic career and coincidently will drive my future.  I learned the necessity of dedication—to teammates, to coaches, and to accomplishing goals—in every practice.  Only through full dedication could I call myself a true student-athlete.  Sports taught me passion.  I love competing.  Every game or match I played I loved competing more and more.  This taught me to put my heart into any task in order to succeed.”

Merrill-Johnson did indeed put her heart into everything she did during her time at MSU Billings, leaving a lasting legacy of achievement at the school.  During that entire time—with no fanfare or publicity—Merrill-Johnson needed some help with that same heart that she gave so much of to her teammates and coaches.  She excelled as an NCAA student-athlete for four years while competing with a heart pacemaker that she received just before she began college.

Woman of the Year State Winners

State

Name

School

Sport

Alaska

Mindy Lindquist

University of AlaskaAnchorage

Basketball, track and field, volleyball

Alabama

Michelle Reeser

University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa

Gymnastics

Arkansas

Jayme Butts

University of Arkansas, Little Rock

Soccer, swimming

California

Ogonna Nnamani

Stanford University

Volleyball

Colorado

Alisha Williams

Western State College of Colorado

Cross country, track and field

Connecticut

Kristen Graczyk

University of Connecticut

Soccer

Washington, D.C.

Colleen Kelly

Georgetown University

Cross country, track and field

Delaware

Leah Geib

University of Delaware

Field hockey

Florida

Melissa Lehman

Barry University

Volleyball

Georgia

Samantha Arsenault

University of Georgia

Swimming

Hawaii

Tracie Uchima

University of Hawaii, Manoa

Softball

Iowa

Jennifer Skolaski

University of Iowa

Swimming

Idaho

Tania Vander Meulen

University of Idaho

Cross country, track and field

Illinois

Courtney Koester

Northwestern University

Basketball, lacrosse

Indiana

Kate Endress

Ball State University

Basketball

Kansas

Kendra Wecker

Kansas State University

Basketball

Kentucky

Stephanie Leimbach

Northern Kentucky University

Softball

Louisiana

Janice Ezegbunam

Southeastern Louisiana University

Track and field

Massachusetts

Jennifer Walker

Bentley College

Field hockey

Maryland

Stephanie LaGue

Goucher College

Swimming

Maine

Kelly Cyr

Saint Joseph's College (Maine)

Soccer

Michigan

Lindsey Gallo

University of Michigan

Cross country, track and field

Minnesota

Heather Hamilton

University of MinnesotaDuluth

Track and field

Missouri

Sara Murray

Truman State University

Soccer

Mississippi

Bernadette Sayles

Delta State University

Basketball

Montana

Margot Merrill-Johnson

Montana State University-Billings

Soccer, tennis

North Carolina

Shannon Davis

Winston-Salem State University

Bowling, softball

North Dakota

Kinsey Coles

North Dakota State University

Cross country, track and field

Nebraska

Richelle Simpson

University of Nebraska, Lincoln

Gymnastics

New Hampshire

Erin Osborn

Dartmouth College

Lacrosse, soccer

New Jersey

Mary Mewherter

Georgian Court University

Basketball, soccer

New Mexico

Christina Spence

University of New Mexico

Golf

Nevada

Alyssa Chin

University of Nevada

Swimming

New York

Kate Chambers

Hartwick College

Water polo

Ohio

Jill Boo

Denison University

Swimming

Oklahoma

Valentina Medina

Oklahoma State University

Cross country, track and field

Oregon

Julie Elliott

University of Portland

Track and field

Pennsylvania

Deirdre Dlugonski

Pennsylvania State University

Swimming

Puerto Rico

Yarisel Rodríguez

University of Puerto Rico, Cayey

Track and field, volleyball

Rhode Island

Carly Muise

Bryant University

Softball

South Carolina

Janiva Willis

Winthrop University

Softball

South Dakota

Marci Miller

University of South Dakota

Track and field

Tennessee

Lauryn McCalley

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Swimming

Texas

Jamie Carey

University of Texas at Austin

Basketball

Utah

Lindsey Metcalf

Brigham Young University

Track and field, volleyball

Virginia

Lindsay Hagerman

Washington and LeeUniversity

Tennis

Vermont

Brittany Cronin

Middlebury College

Soccer

Washington

Corrie McDaniel

Seattle Pacific University

Gymnastics

Wisconsin

Tara Schmitt

University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point

Basketball, soccer, track and field

West Virginia

Lauren Deschamps

Wheeling Jesuit University

Soccer

Wyoming

Shauna Smith

University of Wyoming

Track and field

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