Parts of this release are courtesy of MIT Athletic Communications

WESTWOOD, Mass. - As part of the NEWMAC's 25th Anniversary celebration, the conference is taking time throughout the 2022-2023 academic year to reflect on some of the pivotal moments that have transpired in the membership since its inception in 1998. These moments honor the dedication and positive influence of administrators, coaches, and student-athletes over the past two-and-a-half decades that have helped the NEWMAC, and its member institutions become champions of academic and athletic excellence and a preeminent conference in Division III.

 
In 2016, MIT’s Margaret Guo was bestowed one of the NCAA’s highest honors, as she was named the NCAA Woman of the Year. Guo was the first the NEWMAC student-athlete, the first MIT woman, and only the fourth Division III student-athlete to garner the accolade.
 
“Everyone here at MIT is very proud of Margaret and her accomplishment of being named NCAA Woman of the Year,” said MIT Director of Athletics and DAPER Department Head, Dr. G. Anthony Grant. “To be the first NEWMAC student-athlete to earn this prestigious award and to represent Division III on a national stage is incredible. She is truly an inspiration for other student-athletes across all three divisions.”
 
The NCAA Woman of the Year program honors the academic achievements, athletics excellence, community service, and leadership of graduating female college athletes from all three NCAA divisions. To be eligible, nominees must have competed and earned a varsity letter in an NCAA-sponsored discipline, must have completed eligibility in their primary sport, and must be nominated by their member school.
 
Guo certainly met those guidelines, as she was a six-time NEWMAC All-Conference honoree, a two-time NCAA All-American and a three-time NCAA All-America Honorable Mention recipient. Graduating with a dual degree in electrical engineering and computer science and in biological engineering with a perfect 5.0 grade point average, Guo was also the 2016 CoSIDA Academic All-America Athlete of the Year. An Academic All-America recipient in 2015 and 2016, she also won the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar Award, the NCAA Elite 89 Award, and was a Rhodes finalist and Goldwater Scholar.
 
On campus, she was a member of the MIT Society of Women Engineers, Eta Kappa Nu Honor Society, Tau Beta Pi Honor Society, MIT Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the MIT Association for Computing Machinery. 
 
There were 517 nominees for the 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year award, spanning all three divisions, with Guo ultimately being selected. 2016 was a special year for the NEWMAC as in addition to Guo, Mount Holyoke's Cathleen Pruden was also in attendance at the ceremony being recognized as a Top 30 honoree for the award. Of the honor, Guo said back in 2016, “I'm super proud to have represented MIT for the last four years as a scholar-athlete and grateful for all the support and mentorship that I've received over the past few years. It's these people who have made my MIT experience so unforgettable and who continually push me to become better versions of myself. For me, this award speaks to how MIT is not only an amazing academic institution with cutting-edge research but also a place where students can explore their passions in many different dimensions.”
 
Since Guo earned the honor in 2016, only two other Division III Student-Athletes have been selected as the NCAA Woman of the Year. Most recently, history was made for MIT and the NEWMAC as MIT’s Karenna Groff was named the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year and was celebrated this past January at the NCAA Convention. Since the creation of the award by the NCAA back in 1991, the NEWMAC has had 10 nominees in the Top 30, five in the Top 9: Anna Crary, Smith (2004); Shanti Freitas, Smith (2008); Sarah Jane Otey, Coast Guard (2012) with Guo and Groff being the only two overall winners in NEWMAC history.

About the NEWMAC

The NEWMAC is an association of 11 selective academic institutions: Babson College, Clark University, U.S Coast Guard Academy, Emerson College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, Springfield College, Wellesley College, Wheaton College, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, that are committed to providing high quality competitive athletic opportunities for student-athletes within an educational and respectful environment that embodies the NCAA Division III Philosophy. The conference also partners with five Associate Members: Catholic University of America (Football), Norwich University (Football), Simmons College (Rowing), and U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Football), while sponsoring 20 sports. Salve Regina University will become the conferences 12th core member effective June 1, 2023, while N.Y. Maritime will be joining as an Associate Member in football.