MSOE’s Cayo announced as NCAA Woman of the Year Honoree
| Published: 08/28/2012 |
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MSOE student-athlete Carol Cayo (Lake Mills/Lake Mills, Wis.) was chosen as one of the top 30 honorees for the NCAA Woman of the Year award. A 2012 graduate, Cayo was selected from a group of nearly 430 nominees. The top 30 women are composed of 10 honorees from each NCAA division and span various NCAA sports.
Cayo has been honored numerous times throughout her four-year career including most recently the Northern Athletic Conference Woman of the Year award. Cayo, a three-sport student-athlete for the Raiders' basketball, tennis and outdoor track & field teams, attended Lake Mills High School and graduated from MSOE this spring with a degree in industrial engineering and a 3.98 GPA. She was a two-time selection on the Capital One Academic All-America Team selected by CoSIDA, and led the women's basketball 2012 First Team as the Division III Academic All-American of the Year. Additionally, Cayo was a three-time Capital One Academic All-District selection and a four-time NAC Scholar-Athlete.
She earned All-NAC First Team honors in women's tennis this season as the Raiders' No. 1 singles and doubles player, and received an All-NAC honor all four seasons in basketball including three-straight First Team selections. She was named NAC Freshman of the Year in her rookie campaign, and was named both the NAC Women's Basketball Player and Defensive Player of the Year this past season, when she became the league's all-time leader with 1,141 career rebounds.
In addition to being named a WBCA All-American honorable mention this season, Cayo was a finalist for the prestigious Jostens Trophy, an award that honors the most outstanding women's and men's Division III basketball players of the year.
"Carol is very deserving of this award," MSOE head women's basketball coach and SWA Jessica Ott commented. "She has really exemplified the Division III philosophy with her commitment and success in academics, athletics and all her service projects she has done at MSOE. Carol truly is a student-athlete."
At MSOE's spring commencement, Cayo was honored with the Alumni Association Award for Student Achievement as a leader in community, and received the Fred F. Loock Outstanding Student Award -- presented annually to the MSOE student who combines an excellent academic record and has demonstrated leadership and professional bearing in extracurricular or community service activities. It is the most prestigious student testimonial MSOE bestows.
In the community, Cayo volunteered at the St. John's Cathedral Soup Kitchen, Sam's Hope Book Drive, Our Next Generation program, and was a peer tutor in the MSOE Learning Resource Center. Cayo is a currently a project manager at Epic Systems Corporation in Verona, Wisconsin.
"Carol's accomplishments and honors at MSOE have been extraordinary," MSOE Director of Athletics Dan Harris said. "She has represented us with excellence, honor, dignity and intellect. We have been blessed to have her as an MSOE student-athlete."
The top 30 honorees reflect the pillars of the Woman of the Year award, with outstanding achievements in academics, athletics, community service and leadership. In September, three finalists will be chosen from each division to form nine finalists for the award. The 2012 Woman of Year will be announced and the top 30 women will be honored during an Oct. 14 ceremony in Indianapolis.