The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference has announced that a pair of student-athletes in Jazmin Petrantonio of Shippensburg University and Kayleigh Pokrivka of East Stroudsburg University have been picked as the league’s nominations for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year.
The NCAA Woman of the Year award, established in 1991, honors graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their collegiate careers.
Petrantonio adds a nominee as a Woman of the Year to her already impressive list of accolades not only from 2021-22, but throughout her career. A two-time National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II National Player of the Year (2021 and 2018) and three-time NCAA Division II Field Hockey Champion, Petrantonio graduated in May with a double major in management (concentration in international management) and accounting while tallying a 3.48 cumulative grade-point average (GPA). She was also named to the 2021-22 Academic All-America ® Third Team, 2021-22 Academic All-District 2 ® At-Large Team, and was a two-time NFHCA Division II National Academic Squad and NFHCA Division II National Academic Team Award winner.
Petrantonio led the nation in goals per game (1.85), points per game (4.2), goals (37) and points (84). Petrantonio scored or assisted in 19 of SU's 20 games this season; the only game in which she did not record a point was in the national semifinal.
Petrantonio concluded her historic career with 106 career goals, third-most in NCAA Division II history. In her 79 career games with the Raiders, Petrantonio totaled 248 career points (106 goals, 36 assists) and 29 game-winning goals. She also finished her career as the leading scorer in the history of the NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championships, having scored 10 career goals in eight career NCAA Tournament games.
Along with Petrantonio, East Stroudsburg’s Pokrivka put together quite the resumé to earn a nomination. While being a full-time nurse at Lehigh Valley Hospital with a 3.92 GPA, Pokrivka led the Warriors defensively ranking third nationally in caused turnovers per game and eighth in the country in ground balls per game in women’s lacrosse. She helped ESU lead the nation in ground balls per game, while they ranked third in caused turnovers per game and sixth in scoring defense among the 100-plus DII women’s lacrosse teams.
Following the impressive season defensively, Pokrivka was named to the IWLCA All-America First Team, IWLCA All-Region First Team, PSAC East Defender of the Year, All-PSAC East First Team, the PSAC Top 10 and the IWLCA Senior All-Star Game.
She closes her Warrior career by starting in all 74 games she appeared in, causing 179 turnovers and scooping 232 ground balls. Among active career leaders among all three NCAA divisions, she ranks second in caused turnovers and third in ground balls. She was a starter during all three of ESU's NCAA Semifinal appearances in 2018, 2021 and 2022.
As 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of Title IX, this year's NCAA Woman of the Year award provides an important opportunity to honor incredible women and reflect on the impact of women on intercollegiate sports. In 2022, nearly 220,000 women are competing in college sports, and the NCAA received 577 nominations for this prestigious award.
Petrantonio and Pokrivka will now have the chance to be selected to the Top 30 by the Woman of the Year Selection Committee picking 10 student-athletes from each division.
Of the Top 30, the Woman of the Year Selection Committee will announce nine finalists, three from each NCAA division. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will review the finalists and name the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year.
For the first time in the award's history, the Top 30 honorees will be celebrated and the Woman of the Year will be named at the NCAA Convention. The 2023 Convention will take place in January in San Antonio.
To learn more about the award program and previous winners, visit ncaa.org/woty.
ABOUT THE PSAC
Headquartered in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference is an NCAA Division II Conference comprised of 18 institutions in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The member institutions are Bloomsburg, California (Pa.), Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Gannon, Indiana (Pa.), Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Mercyhurst, Millersville, Pitt-Johnstown, Seton Hill, Shepherd, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester.
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