Stanford’s Girma named 2021 Pac-12 Women's Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year
PAC-12 SCHOLAR-ATHLETES OF THE YEAR
SAN FRANCISCO - STANFORD’s Naomi Girma has been named the Pac-12 Women’s Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the 2021 season, the Conference announced today. The award, which is presented in each of the 24 sports sponsored by the Pac-12, was established to honor collegiate student-athletes that are standouts both academically and in their respective sports disciplines.
Girma, a senior defender from San Jose, Calif., is a symbolic systems/management science & engineering (MS) major at Stanford with a 3.92 cumulative grade-point average. A three-time All-Pac-12 selection (third team in 2018, first team in 2019, 2021) and three-time team captain for the Cardinal (2019-21), Girma has previously been a member of the Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll in 2019 and 2020. She is a two-time member of the CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 First Team (2019, 2021) and is a Senior CLASS award finalist this fall.
On the field, the two-time Pac-12 Defender of the Year (2019, 2021) and two-time United Soccer Coaches First Team All-American (2019, 2021) is a two-time Pac-12 Champion (2018-19) and helped lead the Cardinal to two College Cup appearances (2018-19), including Stanford's third NCAA Championship title in 2019.
In 2021, the MAC Hermann Trophy candidate started all 20 matches anchoring a Cardinal back line that posted nine shutouts and limited opponents to 0.85 goals per match. She also scored four goals, including a game-winner versus Washington State.
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 percent of the scheduled contests in the sport and have a minimum 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 athletics accomplishments of the nominees are a consideration in voting for the award.
A Scholar-Athlete of the Year is 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. The award was first established during the 2008-09 academic year.
ALSO NOMINATED: Jill Aguilera, Arizona; Olivia Kearse-Thomas, Arizona State; Emily Smith, California; Shanade Hopcroft, Colorado; Chardonnay Curran, Oregon; Bridgette Skiba, Oregon State; Olivia Athens, UCLA; Penelope Hocking, USC; Courtney Talbot, Utah; Olivia Van der Jagt, Washington; Elyse Bennett, Washington State.