Angela Mercurio, a three-time Nebraska track and field All-American, has been named the 2019 NCAA Woman of the Year.
Mercurio is the second University of Nebraska–Lincoln student-athlete to receive the honor. She joins former Husker volleyball national champion Billie Winsett-Fletcher, who earned the honor in 1996.
The award recognizes the nation’s top senior female student-athlete who has excelled in areas of academics, athletics, service and leadership.
Mercurio and Winsett-Fletcher are the only student-athletes from a current Big Ten school to have been named NCAA Woman of the Year.
“I’m really grateful to be here,” Mercurio said during an Oct. 20 award ceremony. “Thank you to the NCAA for allowing us women to stand on a stage like this, and to share our voices and share our stories. This is very amazing. Thank you to the representatives from Nebraska, and to Nebraska in general. They truly give us so much, and there is no place like Nebraska. I say that confidently.”
A native of Kitchener, Ontario, Mercurio was a two-time Google Cloud Academic All-America Second Team selection, as well as a three-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and four-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree. Earlier this year, she was also a recipient of the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, Big Ten Postgraduate Scholarship and was honored as one of the first-ever Rose Bowl Game Keith Jackson Postgraduate Scholarship recipients.
She graduated from Nebraska in May with a 3.99 GPA as a double major in biochemistry and women’s and gender studies. Mercurio is currently conducting clinical research for a women’s sports medicine group led by a team of all-female physicians. She also plans to attend medical school.
“From virtually the day she arrived at Nebraska, Angela has been someone who has been so special to our program,” said Gary Pepin, head coach of Nebraska track and field. “She was not only a terrific athlete, she was a great leader, a captain and a tremendous student, and she was wonderful to work with. We’re very, very proud of her and she has earned everything that she’s received.”
Mercurio was a four-year letterwinner on the Nebraska track and field team and was a three-time second-team All-American in the triple jump. She also earned the conference title in the event at the 2019 Big Ten Indoor Championships before going on to place ninth in the triple jump at the 2019 NCAA Indoor Championships.
To be eligible for the award, a female student-athlete must have completed eligibility in her primary sport by the end of the 2019 spring season, graduated no later than the end of the summer 2019 term and achieved a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5.
