SHAWNEE – Former Oklahoma Baptist volleyball player
Malia Leatherland and cross country runner
Emma Downing have been put forth for NCAA Woman of the Year consideration.
The pool for this year's Woman of the Year award includes 577 nominees, 127 of which are Division II student-athletes.
Established in 1991, the NCAA Woman of the Year award is rooted in Title IX and recognizes graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their NCAA eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their collegiate careers.
Leatherland had a career to remember for the Bison volleyball program. She became just the third player in Great American Conference history to win multiple Player of the Year awards. Leatherland finished as the GAC career leader in points and kills and was a three-time All-GAC First Team selection. Over the last three seasons, the Broken Arrow, Okla., native helped the Bison to an impressive 69-10 (.873) record and three GAC regular-season titles.
Academically, the nursing major made the AD's Honor Roll and the GAC All-Academic team throughout her five years on campus.
As for Downing, she was one of the leaders for the Bison women's cross country program in recent years. Downing helped the team to its fifth-straight GAC Championship last fall, marking only the third conference program to accomplish that feat. She was also a two-time All-GAC First Team performer and the GAC's Runner of the Year in 2020.
Downing, from Yukon, Okla., was a biochemistry major while at OBU. She was a GAC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete in 2021, earned GAC Academic All-Conference honors and made OBU's AD Honor Roll every year while on Bison Hill.
