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BOSTON, MASS. - Recent Saint Joseph's College graduate Jillian
Leger (Westminster, Mass.) has been named the 2008
Great Northeast Athletic Conference Woman of the Year.
As the GNAC winner, Leger will also be nominated for the NCAA Woman
of the Year award, one of the most prestigious honors the NCAA bestows.
The award recognizes senior student-athletes who have distinguished
themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic
achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership.
Leger was a four-year starting defender and two-year captain for Head
Women's Soccer Coach Michael Bolanz. During her time as a player for
St. Joe's, the team amassed a 50-24-4 (.676) record including a 16-2-3
season in her senior year, the best in the program's history. As a senior,
Leger was named as a GNAC First Team All Conference Defender and Saint
Joseph's College Female Athlete of the Year. At the conclusion of her
junior year, she earned nominations to the All-Independent Women's Soccer
First Team and the D3 Kicks All-New England Second Team. As a sophomore,
Leger was named to the All-Independent Women's Soccer team.
In the classroom, Leger graduated magna cum laude with a 3.86 grade
point average in business management. She was a member of the Beta Omicron
of Delta Epsilon Sigma National Honor Society.
Leger's presence on campus was felt far beyond her success on the soccer
field and in the classroom. She was a member of the Student-Athlete
Advisory Committee all four years, while chairing the committee her
junior year. Leger worked as an admissions office tour guide and an
event staff member at athletic events. She filled the rest of her spare
time with volunteer efforts. A volunteer for Partners In Development,
where she spent 9 days in Guatemala, Walk for Cancer participant, director
of the student-athlete food drive, and director of the student-athlete
clothing drive.
The NCAA will announce the top ten honorees per division in August,
and the top three per division in September. At a dinner in Indianapolis
on October 19, 2008 the NCAA will honor the top three honorees from
Divisions I, II and Ill, and the 2008 NCAA Woman of the Year.
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