Best Female College Athlete ESPY Award

ESPY Award for Best College Athlete, Women's Sports
Awarded forbest female college athlete
Presented byESPN
First awarded2002
Currently held byCaitlin Clark (USA)
Websiteespn.com/espys/

The ESPY Award for Best College Athlete, Women's Sports, known before 2021 as the Best Female College Athlete ESPY Award, is an annual award honoring the achievements of a female individual from the world of collegiate sports.[1] It was first presented as part of the ESPY Awards in 2002, following the subsumption of the Best Female College Basketball Player ESPY Award, which was presented annually between the 1993 and 2001 ceremonies, inclusive.[2] The award trophy, designed by sculptor Lawrence Nowlan,[3] is awarded to the sportswoman adjudged to be the best in a given calendar year of those contesting collegiate sport in the United States through the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).[1] Since the 2004 awards, the winner has been chosen by online voting through three to five nominees selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee.[4][5] Before that, determination of the winners was made by an panel of experts.[6] Through the 2001 iteration of the ESPY Awards, ceremonies were conducted in February of each year to honor achievements over the previous calendar year; awards presented thereafter are conferred in July and reflect performance from the June previous.[a][2]

The inaugural winner of the Best Female College Athlete ESPY Award at the 2002 awards was University of Connecticut (UConn) Huskies basketball player Sue Bird.[7] During her collegiate career, Bird won two NCAA championships, and was awarded a further eight accolades for her achievements. She became the first of two basketball players to be nominated for, and hence to win, the Best Female College Athlete ESPY Award.[8] The 2003 winner of the award was another UConn player, Diana Taurasi.[9] Taurasi won the accolade again the following year,[9] and is one of three women, all UConn basketball players, to have received the Best Female College Athlete ESPY Award more than once: the most any one woman has won is Maya Moore, who earned three consecutive awards between the 2009 and 2011 ceremonies.[10][11][12] Basketball players dominate the winners list, with 14 awards, while softball competitors have won five times, and just one swimmer (the University of California, Berkeley Golden Bears' Missy Franklin at the 2015 ESPY Awards) has been recognized in the accolade's history. The most recent winner of the award is Iowa basketball player Caitlin Clark.[13]

The accolade was combined with the Best Male College Athlete ESPY Award to create the Best College Athlete ESPY Award which was presented for the first time at the 2018 ESPY Awards.[14] Beginning in 2021, the awards were again separated into men's and women's versions using the current naming scheme.[15]

  1. ^ a b Nelson, Murry R. (2013). American Sports: A History of Icons, Idols and Ideas. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. pp. 399–401. ISBN 978-0-313-39753-0. Archived from the original on January 23, 2018. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c "New categories unveiled for The 2002 ESPY Awards" (Press release). ESPN. 2002. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  3. ^ Avard, Christian (August 2, 2013). "Sculptor commissioned to complete Joe Frazier statue has died". Barre Montpelier Times Argus. Archived from the original on February 21, 2014. Retrieved January 21, 2018.
  4. ^ "The 2004 ESPY Awards - Fans to decide all 2004 ESPY Award winners". ESPN. Archived from the original on January 23, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  5. ^ "The 2021 ESPYS Nominees" (Press release). ESPN. June 12, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  6. ^ "Committee is newly found". ESPN. February 3, 1999. Archived from the original on January 23, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference 2002ESPYS was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "Sue Bird". USA Basketball. October 7, 2013. Archived from the original on April 4, 2016. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  9. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference TarausiESPYWins was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference 2009ESPYs was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Moore2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference ESPY2011 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ "Alo Wins ESPY for Best Female College Athlete". soonersports.com. July 19, 2022. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  14. ^ Keith, Branden (July 16, 2018). "Katie Ledecky Nominated For Best College Athlete ESPY". SwimSwam. Archived from the original on July 17, 2018. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  15. ^ "2021 ESPYS award winners". ESPN.com. July 10, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2021.


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