Sept. 1, 2010

PHILADELPHIA - La Salle graduate Shannon Duval has been named the Atlantic 10 nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year, it was announced today. More than 100 NCAA female student-athletes representing multiple sports in all three divisions have been selected as Woman of the Year nominees by their conferences and by independent institutions. The 131 student-athletes were identified from a record number of 452 nominees. Duval shares the honor with Charlotte's Hailey Beam.

Duval capped off a stellar senior season for the La Salle swimming and diving squad winning both the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke at the 2010 Atlantic 10 Championships, as well as placing third in the 200 IM. During the season, she became the first female swimmer in the A-10 Conference to earn three consecutive Performer of the Week nods. Duval was also named A-10 Student-Athlete of the Year in Women's Swimming, All-Area Performer of the Year by the Philadelphia Inquirer and to the A-10 All-Conference Team.

Duval holds the school record in the 100-breast, 200-breast, 200-free, 200-IM and is part of the La Salle record-holding 200-free, 400-free, 800-free, 200 medley and 400 medley relays. Duval received her degree in Accounting in May of 2010, graduating with a 3.81 GPA.

Beam was named the Atlantic 10's Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year in a vote by the league's athletics directors this past year. Beam, the 49ers women's soccer program's first consensus All-America, is a two-time Atlantic 10 Midfielder of the Year, a two-time ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America and a two-time A-10 Women's Soccer Student-Athlete of the Year.

A selection committee composed of representatives from NCAA member schools and conferences will select 10 nominees from each division to form the Top 30 nominees for the 2010 Woman of the Year Award. The selection committee will narrow down the Top 30 to three finalists from each division. From the nine remaining finalists, the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will select the national winner. The recipient will be announced during the 2010 Woman of the Year dinner in Indianapolis on October 17, 2010.

The NCAA Woman of the Year award, now in its 20th year, honors female student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate career in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, community service and leadership. The 2009 NCAA Woman of the Year was University of Arizona women's swimming student-athlete Lacey Nymeyer.