IRVINE, Calif. – From a pool of 605 school nominees, women's water polo player Tara Prentice was named one of 161 conference-level nominees for the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year Award.

The nominees represent student-athletes from 21 different sports spanning all three NCAA divisions. Of those nominated, 59 nominees competed in Division I, 39 in Division II and 63 in Division III.

From the Big West, Prentice was selected along with CSUN women's water polo player Tori Wilson.

UCI's last NCAA Woman of the Year nominee to advance to the conference level was women's golf player Avery French in 2018. 
 
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.
 
Conferences can recognize two nominees if at least one is a woman of color or international student-athlete. All nominees who compete in a sport not sponsored by their school's primary conference, as well as associate conference nominees and independent nominees, were placed in a separate pool to be considered by a selection committee. Four nominees from the pool were selected to move forward in the process with the conference nominees.
 
Prentice, UCI's female Big West Scholar of the Year, earned the 2020 UCI Chancellor Award of Distinction. A three-time Collegiate Water Polo Association All-American, including first team accolades in 2020, Prentice was a significant contributor on the 2018 Big West Tournament championship team and the 2019 co-regular season title squad.  In 2019, she led the Anteaters with 70 goals, second most in program history in a single season.

Her competitive accomplishments also include a roster spot on the 2019 World University USA Water Polo Team which competed in Napoli, Italy.

Prentice's community involvement includes support for Special Olympics Southern California, Bonita Canyon Elementary and the Newport Beach Soup Kitchen.

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.
 
The Top 30 honorees will be celebrated and the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year will be named this fall.