COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Raena Eldridge of the Texas A&M women's swimming and diving team earned a conference-level nomination for NCAA Woman of the Year, as announced by the NCAA Tuesday afternoon. While 161 female student-athletes in total were nominated, Eldridge is one of 59 student-athletes nominated from the Division I level. She is joined by Kentucky’s Asia Seidt as the Southeastern Conference’s nominees.
The NCAA Woman of the Year program is rooted in Title IX and has recognized graduating female college athletes for excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership since its inception in 1991.
Eldridge graduated from A&M in May with degrees in animal science and genetics, while also earning a business minor. She boasted a 3.979 cumulative GPA through her five years in Aggieland and has begun Vet School at NC State. Eldridge was named the Arthur Ashe, Jr., Female Sports Scholar of the Year, awarded to one male and one female student-athlete each year that exhibit academic excellence as well as community activism in addition to their athletic contributions. The Rockwall, Texas, native was A&M's female nominee for the H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship, and for the second year in a row, was named the Bill Erwin Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year at A&M's annual Building Champions Awards. She earned College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Academic All-America honorable mention accolades as a sophomore and garnered first team honors as a junior and senior.
A team captain for her final two seasons, Eldridge was a part of four consecutive SEC Team Championships throughout her career. She was a two-time CSCAA All-American and earned All-SEC Second Team honors as a sophomore. Eldridge helped earn big points for the Aggies at SEC Championships as a sophomore, helping the 200 medley relay team reach the podium with a second-place finish, while adding a fifth-place finish with the 200 free relay squad. Individually at SEC Championships, she contributed a pair of top 16 finishes in the 100 back and 50 free that season. Eldridge also swam on winning teams in the 400 free relay and 400 medley relay to help the Aggies win the team title at the 2017 U.S. Open.
Away from the pool and the classroom, Eldridge served as a Student Technician at the Genetics Research Lab and as a member of the Pre-Vet Society. She was a project leader for the Aggie Research Scholars Program and started SPLASH, a non-profit organization that teaches swimming and swim safety. Eldridge also contributed her time at Save Our Streets Ministries in Bryan since 2016, mentoring elementary school girls.
The Woman of the Year Selection Committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will now choose the Top 30 honorees — 10 from each division — from the conference-level nominees. The Top 30 honorees will be announced in September. From there, the selection committee will narrow the pool to three finalists from each division. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will select the 2020 Woman of the Year from the nine finalists.
