Pac-12 women's soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year named
USC’s Nicole Molen was named the 2017 Pac-12 Women's Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the Conference office announced on Thursday. The award, which is presented in each of the 24 sports the Pac-12 sponsors, was established to honor collegiate student-athletes that are standouts both academically and in their sports discipline.
Since the award's inception in 2008, Molen is the first Trojan to earn the recognition in women's soccer. The senior from Westlake Village, Calif. has been outstanding in the classroom, boasting a 3.92 GPA, majoring in human biology with the hopes of becoming a physical therapist. The midfielder is a two-time CoSIDA All-Academic District 8 first team honoree and Pac-12 All-Academic first team recipient in 2015 and 2016. Served as team captain in 2015 and 2016 during the team’s NCAA Championship season where she recorded an assist in the title winning game.
On the field, Molen has been instrumental in the Trojans midfield starting 70 out of 87 career games. She has recorded 12 goals and nine assists for 33 points while playing 5,795 career minutes. In the 2017 season, she scored four goals, two of which came on the road against then-No. 2 UCLA for her first multi-tally game.
In order to be eligible for the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, student-athletes must be a senior (in athletics eligibility) on track to receive a degree, have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher, participate in at least 50% of the scheduled contests in the sport and have a minimum of one year in residence at the institution. Each Pac-12 institution may nominate one individual per sport, and the winners are selected by a committee of Pac-12 staff members at the conclusion of each sport’s regular season. The athletic accomplishments of the nominees are a consideration in the voting for the award.
A Scholar-Athlete of the Year will be named in each of the Pac-12’s 24 sponsored sports: baseball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, beach volleyball, men’s cross country, women’s cross country, football, men’s golf, women’s golf, women’s gymnastics, women’s lacrosse, men’s rowing, women’s rowing, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, softball, men’s swimming & diving, women’s swimming & diving, men’s tennis, women’s tennis, men’s track & field, women’s track & field, women’s volleyball, and wrestling.
Also Nominated: Cali Crisler, ARIZ, Madison Stark, ASU, Haley Lukas, CAL, Courtney Fedor, COLO, Michelle Rockey, ORE, Bella Geist, OSU, Andi Sullivan, STAN, Gabrielle Matulich, UCLA, Janie Kearl, UTAH, Rachel Wheeler, WASH, Jordan Branch, WSU.