William Smith College soccer player Madeline Buckley '15 was one of a record 147 NCAA female student-athletes named 2015 Woman of the Year honorees by conferences and independent schools.

The honorees were selected from the record 480 school nominees and represent college athletes from 18 different sports spanning all three NCAA divisions. Of those recognized, 57 honorees competed in Division I, 39 competed in Division II and 51 competed in Division III.

Buckley was one of two honorees from the Liberty League.  She is also the third straight Heron to achieve this honor. Heron soccer's Olivia Zitoli '14 was named an NCAA Woman of the Year honoree last year, and William Smith cross country's Emily D'Addario'13 was named an honoree in 2013.
 
Buckley was selected the conference's Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year and was the 2014 Liberty League Player of the Year. She garnered NCSAA All-American honors this fall, posting 27 points and 11 goals. She was also the 2015 collegiate recipient of the Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup.
 
She achieved great success on the field, helping the Herons to four straight Liberty League regular season and tournament titles as well as four trips to the NCAA tournament, including the 2013 national championship. Buckley finished her career 10th on the all-time William Smith list with 83 career points, tied for 10th with 33 career goals and tied for 18th with 17 career assists.
 
Off the field, Buckley was the soccer team's ambassador for Team IMPACT, a non-profit organization that works to improve the quality of life for children facing life-threatening illness. She is also an active supporter of the B+ Foundation, an organization which honors the memory of Andrew McDonough, a 14-year old athlete from her hometown of Wilmington, Delaware. In addition, Buckley dedicated a great deal of her time as a student working with a program called Geneva Heroes, helping local middle school and high school students with team-building and developing their leadership skills.

The Woman of the Year selection committee will next select the top 10 honorees in each division. The top 30 nominees will be announced in early September.  The selection committee will then choose and announce the top nine finalists (three from each division) at the end of September. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will vote from among those nine finalists to determine the 2015 Woman of the Year.

The top 30 honorees will be honored and the 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year will be named at the annual ceremony in Indianapolis on Oct. 18.

Now in its 25th year, the NCAA Woman of the Year award recognizes graduating female student-athletes for excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership.