UNM nominates Howard, Chen for NCAA Woman of the Year award
Jul. 15—Softball star and La Cueva graduate Andrea Howard and tennis star Yue Lin "Polly" Chen have been named NCAA Woman of the Year nominees, as announced by the NCAA on Thursday.
The Woman of the Year award highlights academics, athletics, service and leadership. To be eligible, a nominee must have competed and earned a varsity letter in an NCAA-sponsored sport and must have earned her undergraduate degree by Summer 2022.
They are two of 577 nominees from member schools, 248 which were Division I. School nominees will now go to the conference level, with each conference selecting one member to nominate, which will be announced in mid-August.
This past season as a "super senior", Howard was named a CoSIDA Academic First Team All-American, becoming the first two-time, first-team All-American in UNM softball history. In addition, she maintained a 4.12 GPA and graduated with a double major in biology and psychology.
Academically, Howard also closed her career as a five-time member of the Mountain West All-Academic Team and five-time MW Scholar-Athlete.
Starting all 53 games in center field this past season, Howard tallied 57 hits, that included eight doubles and three triples, and finished the regular season with a conference-best 18 home runs, 43 walks (21 intentional), .403 batting average,.875 slugging percentage and .531 on-base percentage. Her 57 RBIs ranked second in the Mountain West.
Her 18 home runs and 126 total bases both ranked third all-time in program history for a single season and her 57 RBI and 43 walks ranked second in program history for a single season. In addition, her .875 slugging percentage was the second-best in program history for a single season and her on-base percentage of .531 was the best in program record.
This season, Howard also broke the program record for career home runs, finishing with 47, as well as career total bases with 380.
Meanwhile, Howard held an MDA charity fundraiser softball clinic in October, with all proceeds donated to the Muscular Dystrophy Association. When she wasn't on the field or in class, Howard worked as a research assistant at UNM Hospital and the Department of Emergency Medicine, and spent time shadowing physicians. As part of her research work, Howard assisted in enrolling participants in research studies, the university reports.
Chen played No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles, recording 20 wins on the season. She was named All-Mountain West in both in 2022 as well as 2021. In addition, she maintained a 4.04 GPA and graduated with a business degree. She was a five-time member of the MW All-Academic Team and five-time MW Scholar-Athlete.
