NCAA Release
HAVERFORD, Pa. – Amira Abujbara '17 has been announced as a nominee for the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year. Abujbara, a recent graduate and team captain of the women's fencing team, is one of a record-breaking 544 student-athletes who were nominated across the country. Of the record 544 entrants, 198 of these female-student athletes come from Division III schools.
Now in its 27th year, the Woman of the Year award honors graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in academics, athletics, service, and leadership.
Across all three divisions, Abujbara is one of just four fencers who have been nominated for the prestigious NCAA Woman of the Year honor.
Since joining the women's fencing team at Haverford as a walk-on during her sophomore season, Abujbara quickly became one of Haverford's top foilists. Her fencing prowess also caught the eye of the international fencing community as she has been training with the Qatar National Team during her junior season. She was officially accepted on the national team this past winter and soon made her international debut.
Competing at the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Fencing Championships in Bahrain during her Haverford season, Abujbara took home an individual bronze medal in the biennial international athletics competition that includes athletes from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Bahrain, and Qatar. Her efforts the following day helped Qatar take home the silver medal as a team.
Fencing for Haverford, Abujbara earned several postseason accolades, including selection onto the National Intercollegiate Women's Fencing Association (NIWFA) All-Academic Team, inclusion on the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Team, and honorable mention recognition for the Eastern Women's Fencing Conference (EWFC) Women of the Year.
Finishing her Haverford career on a strong note, Abujbara tied for the foil squad lead with nine individual victories out of the "B" pool at the NIWFA Championships. That performance came just two weeks after recording 10 wins at the EWFC Team Championships.
Abujbara also made the most of her final appearance inside the Andy Kates Fencing Salle as she and her teammates helped the Fords extend their program-record home winning streak to 19 straight triumphs. That stretch, which dated back to the 2012, was ultimately snapped but not without Abujbara doing her best to will the Fords to victory as she won two of her three bouts against Johns Hopkins. That same day, the foil squad finished with a perfect 9-0 record in Haverford victories over Navy and William & Mary.
The NCAA encourages member schools to honor their top graduating female student-athletes each year by submitting their names for consideration for the Woman of the Year award. Then, conferences assess each nominee's eligibility and select up to two conference nominees. All conference nominees are forwarded to the Woman of the Year selection committee, which chooses the top 30 honorees – 10 from each division.
From the top 30, the selection committee determines the top three nominees from each division and announces the top nine finalists in September. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics then chooses from among those nine to determine the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year.