NEW YORK—Women's track & field and cross country student-athlete McKenna Keegan has been selected as a BIG EAST Conference nominee for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year award. The NCAA announced its conference-level honorees earlier this week. Keegan was previously chosen by the BIG EAST along with DePaul women's tennis student-athlete Marija Jovicic to represent the league as candidates for the national award.
 
Keegan wrapped up an incredible collegiate career this Spring as a seven-time All-American, an eight-time BIG EAST champion and a 12-time All-BIG EAST performer. She recorded three career top-eight finishes at the NCAA Championships, including a third place finish indoors in the 800 meters this year and a career best second place finish at the outdoor national meet. In her final year of collegiate eligibility in 2021-22, Keegan was the BIG EAST champion indoors in the 800 meters in addition to running the 400 meter leg of the team's conference champion distance medley relay. She added a second place finish in the 400 meters at the outdoor BIG EAST Championships before going on to success at the NCAA meet and eventually at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships.
 
In her academic studies Keegan was a Psychology major as an undergraduate and is pursuing a Master's in Public Administration from Villanova. She has been named to the BIG EAST All-Academic Team five times during her career and is an eight-time member of the Athletic Director's Honor Roll. Earlier this summer Keegan was named as one of two BIG EAST nominees for NCAA Woman of the Year. She is among 151 conference-level nominees for the national award.
 
There are 151 conference-level nominees nationwide for the NCAA Woman of the Year honor. The nominees represent student-athletes from 17 sports spanning all three NCAA divisions. Of those nominated, 53 nominees competed in Division I, 39 in Division II and 59 in Division III. From the total pool of 577 nominees submitted by NCAA member schools, 547 were sent to conference to select their nominees for consideration for NCAA Woman of the Year. The remaining 30 nominees compete in a sport that is not sponsored by their school's primary conference or compete for an independent school. The non-conference/independent nominees are being reviewed by a committee, and on August 4, five will be named to move forward in the process to complete the conference-level pool of 156 nominees.
 
At January's NCAA Convention in San Antonio, the national Top 30 honorees will be celebrated, and the NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced. The NCAA Woman of the Year program is rooted in Title IX and has recognized graduating female college athletes for excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership since its inception in 1991. Former Villanova women's track & field/cross country standout Nnenna Lynch was the NCAA Woman of the Year in 1992-93. For more information about the program and previous winners, please visit ncaa.org/woty.