Carnegie Mellon’s Carson Quiros Named UAA Nominee for NCAA Woman of the Year Award
(ROCHESTER, N.Y.) – Carnegie Mellon University recent graduate Carson Quiros (Atlanta, Ga./Whitefield Academy) of the women's soccer team along with Allison Zastrow from Washington University in St. Louis, were named the University Athletic Association (UAA) nominees for the 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
Quiros is one of 51 nominees from NCAA Division III and 141 from all three NCAA Divisions. The NCAA Woman of the Year Award, which is in its 26th year, honors graduating female student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership.
The Top 30 nominees (10 per division) for the 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year Award will be announced in August, and the nine finalists (three per division) will be selected in September. The 2015 Woman of the Year Award winner will be announced at an awards dinner Sunday, October 16 in Indianapolis.
"Carson has been a leader on and off the field for the past four years. She played a significant factor in our teams success as a starter, captain, and dominant force on the field," said head coach Yon Struble. "Carson's acumen in the classroom is a testament to her commitment to being successful in all endeavors she takes on. She will be very difficult to replace but she without question paved the way for the programs current and future success."
Quiros graduated in May with a 3.97 cumulative grade point average (GPA) in professional and creative writing and was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa Society this past May. She became the women's soccer program's first CoSIDA Academic All-America honoree last season and is a three-time All-UAA honoree. The midfielder also is a two-time National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-Scholar All-Region and NSCAA All-Great Lakes Region honoree.
This past season, Quiros helped the Tartans set the school record for wins in a season after compiling a 17-2-1 record. The Tartans won the UAA for the second consecutive season, sharing the title with Washington University, before finishing the year in the NCAA Sectional Semifinal for the second straight year.
Quiros was a three-year starter for the Tartans at midfield and a captain in 2015. She finished her career with 11 goals and six assists after recording four goals this season with two coming in a 2-0 victory against the University of Rochester.
Off the field, Quiros has served as an editorial intern for Paste Magazine, was a reporting intern for The Chautauquan Daily, was an account assistant for EOS Marketing and Communications and was a member of Delta Gamma Beta Nu.
At the department's annual banquet, Quiros received the Dr. William Brown Academic Athletic Achievement Award for recording the highest cumulative GPA among four-year student-athletes.
"Carson was an exceptional student-athlete and had a remarkable academic and athletic career at Carnegie Mellon," said Director of Athletics Josh Centor. "She was a leader in the middle of the soccer field for four years, all while being nearly perfect in a rigorous course of study. She led our women's soccer program to the first four NCAA Championship appearances in school history, and demonstrated to current and future Tartans that excellence in every domain is possible."