INDIANAPOLIS -- Following her graduation from Academy of Art University this past spring, one highly decorated Urban Knight has been nominated for the 2024 NCAA Woman of the Year award. This year,
Haley Randall of softball serves as ART U's nominee for one of the most prestigious annual honors the NCAA has to offer.
Now in its 34th installment, the Woman of the Year award honors graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in academics, athletics, service, and leadership. Previous Academy of Art nominees include softball student-athletes
Lauryn Henderson (
2022),
Brenna Youngquist (
2019),
Haily MacDonald (
2016) and
Elyse Cordova (
2015), golfers
Anahi Servin (
2022),
Sterling Hawkins (
2019),
Andrea Nieto (
a top finalist in 2014), and
Crystal Superal (
2013), basketball/track & field standout
Jasmin Guinn (
2017), track & field student-athlete
Camille Jouanno (
2021), and tennis student-athletes
Yun "Nicole" Shiau (
2023),
Mariacristina Andrisani (
2021),
Alma Thell-Lenntorp &
Klara Thell-Lenntorp (
2020),
Michelle Dandik Zaale (
2017),
Nina Gajdosikova (
2016), and
Jenny Johansson (
2015).
A face of the ART U softball program over the past five years and a dynamic talent, Randall finished her collegiate career with a .296 batting average, 44 extra-base hits (including nine home runs), and 70 runs batted in. The native of Walnut Creek, Calif. was a three-time Pacific West Conference Freshman of the Week in 2021 (
Mar. 29,
Apr. 12,
May 10) en route to being named the
2021 PacWest Freshman of the Year,
All-PacWest Third Team,
D2CCA All-Region First Team, and
NFCA All-Region Second Team. Among her biggest career highlights were becoming the sixth Urban Knight to homer twice in one game (
Mar. 27, 2021) and tying the Academy of Art record with a 15-game hit streak that spanned Mar. 19 to Apr. 12, 2021.
When all was said and done, Randall ended as a three-time team captain (2022, 2023, 2024) with the program's career stolen base percentage record (.967, 30-for-31), 45 multi-hit games, and top 10 rankings in ART U history in career hits (171), runs scored (95), doubles (29), triples (6), and stolen bases (30) across the program's third-most games played (196) and second-most games started (195).
Randall's athletic accomplishments came alongside a 3.43 cumulative grade point average in the School of Art Education. Twice a winner of the Meghan Bushnell Female Servant Leadership Award (
2022,
2023) with 60 and 38 community service hours logged in those respective academic campaigns, she contributed more than 20 hours in each of her last four years at Academy of Art. Randall served as the co-president of the Academy of Art Student-Athlete Advisory Committee this past year, was an
Easton/NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete in 2022, and concluded her career as a multi-time Academic All-PacWest Team selection (
2020,
2021,
2022,
2023).
"It is such an honor to be nominated," Randall said. "Being a leader and making a positive impact on my community has always been a priority of mine and to be recognized is such a great feeling. The skills and insights I have gained as a student-athlete will guide me as I strive to be a fit for positive change in my community and beyond."
The NCAA Woman of the Year nominations are now under review by each school's conference office and two individuals will be submitted as the conference nominees to the NCAA. A selection committee then chooses the Top 30 nominees (10 from each division) before narrowing it down to three finalists from each division. The Committee on Women's Athletics selects the winner from the top nine. The 2024 NCAA Woman of the Year winner will be announced, and the top 30 honorees celebrated, this fall.
