SAN FRANCISCO - Two former Cardinal, Brooke Forde and Naomi Girma, were amongst the 10 former student-athletes chosen by the NCAA Honors Committee for its Today's Top 10 awardee pool announced on Monday. These 10 former players are being recognized for their achievements in athletics and academics, as well as in their campuses and communities.  

All 10 awardees have completed the undergraduate studies and athletic eligibility and are pursuing and creating successful futures. They will be honored at the Honors Celebration on Jan. 11 during the NCAA Convention in San Antonio.

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.

NAOMI GIRMA

A 2022 Stanford graduate, Naomi Girma (San Jose, Calif.) earned a degree in symbolic systems/management science & engineering (MS) 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 had previously been a member of the Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll in 2019 and 2020. She was 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.