Official NCAA Release 

INDIANAPOLIS - Hillsdale College graduate Arena Lewis was officially named the Great Midwest Athletic Conference nominee for the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year Award.

A record number of 605 nominees were brought forward among the three divisions. Lewis was one of 126 nominees from Division II. The cross country/track and field standout was also one of 128 multisport student-athletes that were nominated. 

Lewis closed out her exceptional career as an important piece of five G-MAC Championship teams in cross country and indoor/outdoor track and field. She placed all three times at the Great Midwest Cross Country Championship and is a three-time cross country national meet qualifier.

Lewis finished runner-up at the 2019 G-MAC Cross Country Championship. In 2018, she earned NCAA Division II All-American status in cross country, finishing 37th at the national meet.

On the track, Lewis placed seven times at the Great Midwest Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field Championships, including three conference runner-up finishes. Lewis qualified for the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field National Meet in 2018, where she placed 14th in the 5,000m run. 

She has etched her name into the conference record books as she holds the ninth-best female 5k time in cross country, the fourth-best time in the indoor 5,000m run, and the sixth-best time in the outdoor 5,000m run. Lewis is a three-time USTFCCCA All-Midwest Region selection in cross country and track.

The biochemistry major graduated Cum Laude with a 3.54 overall GPA. She was named the 2020 recipient of the Hillsdale College Marsden Prize in Botany, awarded by the Biology Department. 
 

The Woman of the Year selection committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will choose the Top 30 honorees — 10 from each division. From the Top 30, the Woman of the Year selection committee will determine the top three honorees in each division and announce nine finalists. The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics then will choose the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year, who will be named this fall.