KU Standout Bonds Named NCAA Woman of the Year Nominee

June 30, 2010

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. –

Kansas track and field senior Lauren Bonds has been named a nominee for the NCAA’s Woman of the Year award, which is presented annually to a female student-athlete who has distinguished herself throughout her collegiate career in the areas of academic achievement, athletic excellence, service and leadership.

Bonds, a senior distance runner from Hutchinson, Kan., placed seventh in the 1,500-meter run at the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships to earn All-America honors. She also earned indoor All-America accolades as part of KU’s distance medley team. The senior was the 2010 Big 12 champion in the 1,500 meters and is an 11-time All-Big 12 performer in indoor and outdoor track combined, and holds five Jayhawk records.

Bonds, who is a political science/international studies and history major, was a 2010 Prentice Gautt Scholarship recipient and was also named a 2009-10 KU Woman of Distinction. She is a four-time Academic All-American and Big 12 All-Academic Team honoree.

She has served as a volunteer at the Lawrence Community Shelter and worked with the Church World Services Immigrant and Refugee program. Her other projects include assisting with Project Bridge: Translation Service, the Douglas County AIDS project and Coalition for Immokalee Workers.

In order to be eligible for the award, female student-athletes must have completed their intercollegiate eligibility in the their primary sport by the end of the 2010 spring season and graduated no later the end of the summer 2010 term.

The NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee will choose the top 10 nominees from each NCAA Division, and from among those 30 honorees, the committee will determine its top three in each division. Finally, the Committee on Women’s Athletics will vote from among the top nine to determine the 2010 Woman of the Year.

The top 10 honorees from Divisions I, II and III will be honored, and the 2010 Woman of the Year announced, at a dinner in Indianapolis on Oct. 17, 2010.