TOWSON, Md. – Seven Landmark Conference female student-athletes were recently nominated for the prestigious 2022 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Woman of the Year honor.
Eligible female student-athletes are nominated by their member school. Each conference office then reviews the nominations from its core member schools (and sponsored sports) and submits its conference nominee(s) to the NCAA. Then, in October, the NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee identifies the Top 30 – 10 from each division – and from there selects three finalists from each division. The Committee on Women's Athletics then selects the winner from the nine finalists.
"Our seven Landmark nominees have all proven themselves as high caliber student athletes while excelling in the classroom, on the playing fields and within their communities," said Landmark Commissioner Katie Boldvich. "It is inspiring to read through their many accomplishments and the conference is honored to have them represent our league at the national level."
The 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced at the NCAA 2023 Convention in January.
Get to know the seven Landmark nominees below
Clare Richards | Catholic University
The 2022 Landmark Women's Lacrosse Senior Scholar-Athlete, Richards was additionally named the conference Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Her nomination was forwarded to the Division III Commissioner Association (D3CA) for its national Female Student-Athlete of the Year.
A two-time All-American, IWLCA All-Chesapeake Region First Team, and All-Landmark Conference First Team selection, she made 55 career appearances with 50 starts while ranking seventh in program history with 174 draw controls. She also totaled 49 goals, 53 points, 56 ground balls, and 30 caused turnovers.
As a senior, Richards started all 19 of the team's games and finished second on the team with 53 draw controls. She also totaled 17 goals, 24 ground balls, and 12 caused turnovers.
Off the field, Richards was a three-time Landmark Conference Spring Academic Honor Roll selection who was named to the 2021 IWLCA Honor Squad and a member of the Dean's List. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in nursing and a psychology minor with a 3.80 grade-point average.
Richards' service included being a member of the Catholic University Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) serving as Vice President in 2020 and President in 2021. She also volunteered her time with the Franciscan Monastery, Special Olympics D.C. Polar Plunge, and the Mother Theresa and MLK Day of Service.
Cassidy Conklin | Drew University
Conklin made an impression during her time at Drew. She was a member of the Ranger women's golf program that won three conference titles (2018, 2020, 2022) and was named to the All-Landmark Second Team in 2022.
She was heavily involved within the campus community. She was an Action Scholar Mentor and served on the Civic Scholar Advisory Board as a senior. Off-campus, she volunteered her time at the Morristown homeless solutions, the Morristown Neighborhood House, and the Interfaith Food Pantry.
A four-time Women's College Golf Association (WGCA) Academic All-American, Conklin was awarded the university's James A. McClintock Award for Excellence in Psychology Principles and Ideals, was named to the Landmark Academic Honor Roll every year she was eligible, and was a member of Psi Chi – the National Psychology Honor Society.
Kailey Caroland | Elizabethtown College
Caroland was honored as the Landmark's Women's Tennis Senior Scholar-Athlete this past spring.
On the court, Caroland was a three-time All-Landmark selection in singles and doubles. She earned First Team in singles in 2021 and 2022 and was named to the Second Team in 2019. In doubles action, she earned First Team honors in 2019 and 2021 and Second Team accolades in 2022.
A four-year Dean's List selection, Caroland was awarded numerous honors' during her time at Elizabethtown. She was awarded the Tri-Beta National Honor Society Research Grant in 2021 and was a member of the Honors Program Independent Researcher under Dr. Jane Cavender since 2020.
She was involved in numerous research initiatives. She ran Western Blots to compare the amount of SRSF1, SAM68, and SV40 T-antigen proteins between the cell lines in hopes of better understanding the correlation between the proteins and the high growth rates of SV40 T-antigen transformed cells and was also responsible for conducting Western Blots and qPCRs to assess differing protein and gene expression levels in Ewing Sarcoma cell lines compared to various knockdown cell lines.
Caroland is currently a graduate student at Drexel University, majoring in Molecular Medicine and minoring in Drug Discovery and Development.
Emily Postlethwait | Goucher College
Postlethwait was a four-year member of the Goucher field hockey team and earned Second Team All-Conference honors last fall.
Off the field, she was involved with the Goucher community. She developed a research study, collected, and cleaned data, and wrote manuscript for publication on Zoom's effect on Cognitive Load. She also served as a supplemental instructor for Statistical Methods in Psychology, where she helped grade students' work and assisted in learning gaps with extra practice problems.
For the last two years, Postlethwait was a member of the Gopher Ally Coalition, a group that met to discuss readings and videos on current events and discussed how to better members of society and hold selves accountable amidst daily news. Additionally, she aided other student-athletes on campus to register to vote for the 2020 election and made the voting process easier and more accessible for students through the Gopher Vote Initiative.
A Psychology major, Postlethwait graduated Summa Cum Laude, was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa (2022), Psi Chi (2022), and was a member of Chi Alpha Sigma (2021, 2022). She earned National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Scholar of Distinction honors this past spring and was a four-time NFHCA Academic Squad member (2018-2021).
Talia Bertrando | Juniata College
Bertrando excelled both athletically and academically at Juniata. A member of both the women's soccer and lacrosse programs, Bertrando became the first JC women's lacrosse player to score 100 goals and tally 100 career points. She was also awarded the college's Bargerstock Award. The award goes to a senior female athlete who made the greatest contributions to athletics.
She immersed herself throughout Juniata's campus. She served as a Juniata Associate in the Office of Community Engagement as well as volunteering as a campus tour guide, a tutor in Microeconomics, and was the college Enrollment Office Blogger. Additionally, she was a four-year member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and was the student advisor to the Juniata Board of trustees Marking and Enrollment Committee.
Bertrando earned Dean's List recognition in 12 semesters and graduated Magna Cum Laude. She was the 2022 Class President and was a speaker at Juniata's 144th Graduation Ceremony. She was also part of the Tau Pi Phi Business Society, Lambda Pi Eta Communication Honor Society, and Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Honor Society.
Kayla Yoegel | Moravian University
Yoegel was a two-time All-Landmark Women's Basketball selection, earning Second Team honors in 2021 and 2022. She appeared in 78 games with 61 starts where she averaged 22.8 minutes per game, 8.9 points per game, and 4.1 rebounds per game. She ended her career with 695 total points, 319 rebounds, 75 blocks, 66 assists, and 61 steals. Yoegel was also part of the Greyhound squad that was the NCAA Division III winner of the Kay Yow Cancer Fund fundraiser for the 14th consecutive year. The team raised $19,480 in 2018-19, $19,053 in 2019-20, $6,683 in 2020-21, and $18,050 this past season.
Away from the court, Yoegel was named to Moravian's Dean's List seven times and earned Landmark Academic Honor Roll honors all three years she was eligible. She graduated this past spring Summa Cum Laude and was inducted into the Omicron Delta Epsilon International Economics Honor Society. Yoegel was involved with the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) as well as the University's Athletes of Faith (AOF), where she served as the club president. She also worked as an Athletic Department Intern and Operations Assistant, as well as working for the Athletic Communications Department.
Allie Benadon | University of Scranton
One of the best players for Scranton field hockey, Benadon ends her time as a two-time conference champion, a three-time All-Conference selection (2018, 2019, 2021), and was named the 2021 conference Offensive Player of the Year. She earned National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) All-Region honors in 2019 and 2021 and was an NFHCA Second Team All-America selection this past fall.
She ends her athletic career ranked in the top 20 in assists (15), points (61), and goals (23).
Academically, Benadon was named to the College of Sports Information Directors (CoSIDA) Academic All-America At-Large Third Team in 2022, was a four-time NFHCA Scholar of Distinction and Academic Squad member, earned Landmark Academic Honor Roll honors three times, and was named the conference Field Hockey Senior Scholar-Athlete last fall. She was the recipient of the university Carlesimo Award, which is given annually to the male and female members of the senior class athletes who have demonstrated both academic and athletic excellence, and was awarded the Excellence in Human Resource Studies Award, which is given to students with the highest grade point average in each of the university's three undergraduate colleges.