Blazing Honored at NCAA Woman of the Year Ceremony

INDIANAPOLIS – Former Duke field hockey standout Lauren Blazing was honored by the NCAA Sunday evening at the 2016 Woman of the Year awards dinner. A 2016 graduate of Duke, Blazing was one of the top 30 honorees for the prestigious award.

The NCAA Woman of the Year program honors the academic achievements, athletics excellence, community service and leadership of graduating female college athletes from all three divisions. To be eligible, nominees must have competed and earned a varsity letter in an NCAA-sponsored sport and must have completed eligibility in her primary sport.

Blazing was selected in September as one of the top 30 honorees from a pool of over 215,000 NCAA female student-athletes, including a record 517 for the 2016 edition of the award. In July, she was named one of the ACC's two nominees for the program following a vote of the league's 15 member schools.

NCAA Woman of the Year festivities are underway in Indianapolis! #NCAAWOTY pic.twitter.com/X0jlfwWOmU
— Inside the NCAA (@InsidetheNCAA) October 17, 2016

A native of Durham, N.C., Blazing concluded her collegiate career on a high note in 2015, earning first team All-America distinction from the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA). She was also a first team NFHCA All-South Region and All-ACC selection while anchoring Duke to the NCAA semifinals for the second time in three seasons. Over her four years in goal, Blazing compiled a 49-29 ledger and became just the seventh player in program history to earn All-America accolades on three or more occasions. She rounded out her career ranked third at Duke in career saves (385) and goals against average (1.46). She has also represented the program on the international level as a member of the U.S. women's national team, earning her first international cap in February.

Blazing's numerous academic laurels include garnering first team Academic All-America distinction from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) this past spring. It marked the third consecutive year Blazing was a first team selection to the Division I Women's At-Large Team. She also received a Heidrick Family Postgraduate Scholarship from Duke and an ACC postgraduate scholarship, in addition to being named the ACC Field Hockey Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the second straight season. At last fall's NCAA Field Hockey Championship banquet, Blazing was named the recipient of an Elite 90 Award, presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average participating in the finals of each of the NCAA's championships.

Margaret Guo, a swimmer from MIT, took home the 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year honor.

#GoDuke