The 22nd annual NCAA Woman of the Year awards program took place in Indianapolis on Sunday night, Oct. 14.

The NCAA Woman of the Year Award was established in 1991 to celebrate the achievements of women in intercollegiate athletics. Now in its 22nd year, the award honors female student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in academic achievement, athletics excellence, community service and leadership.

Wethe earned her degree from UCSD in international studies after an exemplary four-year career as a student and a midfielder on the nationally-ranked Triton women's soccer team. The Los Alamitos native played in all 90 of UCSD's matches from 2008-11, starting all but one of them and producing eight goals and 15 assists.

A two-time NSCAA All-West Region First Team, three-time All-California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) First Team and four-time CCAA All-Academic selection, Wethe helped guide the Tritons to four straight NCAA Division II Championship appearances and the 2008 CCAA Championship title. UCSD was the NCAA Division II national runner-up in 2010. Wethe was a team captain and a Capital One Academic All-District 8 honoree as a senior in 2011.

Following the completion of her soccer eligibility, Wethe even appeared in 39 games, scoring 16 runs and stealing two bases, for the NCAA Division II national runner-up UCSD softball team in 2012.

NCAA member institutions from all three divisions nominated their own woman of the year. To be eligible, these women must have competed and earned a varsity letter in an NCAA-sponsored sport and must have completed eligibility in their primary sport. From nearly 430 nominees, the selection committee chose 30 women - 10 from each division - and then selected three finalists from each division.

From the nine finalists, the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics selected Elizabeth Phillips, a seven-time All-American in cross country and track and field and a biomedical engineering graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., as the 2012 NCAA Woman of the Year.

-- UCSDtritons.com --