INDIANAPOLIS - Stanford's Brooke Forde, the Pac-12 Woman of the Year for the 2021-22 athletics season, has been named one of nine finalists for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year Award, the NCAA announced Thursday.

The nine finalists consist of three student-athletes from each NCAA division. Each was selected for her outstanding achievements in academics, athletics, community service and leadership.

Of 577 student-athletes nominated for the award, 156 student-athletes were selected as conference-level nominees. That pool of student-athletes was narrowed to the national Top 30 honorees. On Jan. 12, the Top 30 honorees will be celebrated during a luncheon at the NCAA Convention in San Antonio. There, the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year will be named from among the nine finalists.

Four student-athletes from the Pac-12 have won the prestigious NCAA Woman of the Year award: Justine Schluntz (2010), Lacey Nymeyer (2009), Whitney Myers (2007) and Tanya Jones (1994). All four were student-athletes at the University of Arizona.

BROOKE FORDE

A standout in-and-out of the pool for Stanford women’s swimming and diving, Forde (Louisville, Ky.) recently completed a master’s degree in epidemiology with a 4.2 grade-point average after receiving an undergraduate degree in human biology with a 3.96 GPA in 2021.

During her five seasons competing on The Farm, Forde helped the Cardinal to a pair of NCAA Championships (2018, 2019) and four Pac-12 Championships (2018-20, 2022). She claimed five NCAA individual or relay national titles - part of being a 19-time NCAA All-American - as well as six Pac-12 individual or relay titles; prior to her fifth and final season, Forde captured a silver medal in the 800 free relay at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Among her academic honors is being named 2021 CoSIDA At-Large Academic All-American of the Year and a three-time CoSIDA First Team Academic All-American (2020, 2021, 2022). Additionally, she was the 2020-21 Pac-12 Women’s Swimming and Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year, a four-time CSCAA Scholar All-American (2018-21), three-time Pac-12 Winter Academic Honor Roll recipient (2020, 2021, 2022) and a 2019 Pac-12 All-Academic First Team All-Academic selection.

Her leadership and service activities included serving as co-president of the Stanford Student-Athlete Sustainability Committee and member of the Pac-12 Sustainability Committee during which she spearheaded a Zero Waste initiative at a Stanford football game with recycling, e-waste, and donation drives that were duplicated during basketball season. Forde, who received Stanford University’s James W. Lyons Award for Service, which highlights outstanding contributions in areas of extraordinary need that result in substantial change, will join the Peace Corps this fall to be a public health officer in rural Peru.