In addition to Wheaton's Favor Ezewuzie, Illinois Wesleyan track & field student-athlete Ayana Blair's name was also submitted to the NCAA for national Woman of the Year consideration. The NCAA allows for conferences to submit two nominees if one is a student-athlete of color or international student-athlete. 

NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- Wheaton's Favor Ezewuzie has been selected as the 2021 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Woman of the Year and will now represent the conference as a nominee for the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year award.

Ezewuzie was chosen through a voting process conducted by the CCIW's Senior Woman Administrators and Faculty Athletics Representatives.

In addition to Ezewuzie, Illinois Wesleyan track & field student-athlete Ayana Blair's (PICTURED RIGHT) name was also submitted to the NCAA for national Woman of the Year consideration. The NCAA allows for conferences to submit two nominees if at least one is a student-athlete of color or international student-athlete. 

The Woman of the Year award honors senior women's student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership.

Ezewuzie closed out her Wheaton track & field career with three more all-America certificates at the 2021 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championship in May. She won the national title in the 100-meter hurdles (13.67), placed fourth in the 100-meter dash (11.99), and in her final race, took fifth in the 200-meter dash (24.43). With those three races, Ezewuzie finished as a 12-time all-American. She is also an 18-time CCIW champion, the only CCIW women's student-athlete to be named the conference's Indoor Track Athlete of the Meet three times and she is also a two-time winner of the CCIW Outdoor Track Athlete of the Meet award. 

As an Elementary Education major, Ezewuzie earned a 3.71 GPA, is an eight-time Academic All-CCIW member, a five-time recipient of the CCIW's Jack Swartz Academic All-Conference Award, a member of Wheaton's Dean's List, and a three-time CoSIDA Academic All-American. She was also a recipient of the 2019 Dorothy B. Dixon Scholarship, awarded to one student in the Education Department at Wheaton as a merit scholarship for academic achievement. Ezewuzie graduated Magna Cum Laude from Wheaton in May 2021.

She was a Sisterhood Coordinator for the Black Student Union where she provided spiritual and emotional mentoring to over 40 black women and also organized events for empowerment and attended meetings to seek improvement for the whole black student union. Ezewuzie led a nutrition information night for women's athletes and worked to provide resources for girls struggling with eating disorders. She also mentored 10 freshmen minority women to promote a safe space for new students, led spiritual mentoring and growth for four freshmen women, led captains practices for the track & field team, was a college tutor for 4th and 5th grade students, planned and prepared musical responsibilities for Wheaton's chapel services, and coordinated service projects throughout the city of Chicago. 

Blair was named a United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-American in the indoor shot put and weight throw following the cancellation of the 2020 NCAA Indoor & Outdoor Track & Field Championships. She earned another all-America certificate with a sixth place finish in the shot put (46-0; 14.02 meters) at the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Blair was also the 2021 CCIW shot put champion after she finished first with a toss of 43-10. 

Blair earned a 3.82 GPA as a Biochemistry major and served as both a chemistry and biology teaching assistant, a Next STEM Mentor and is a member of the Alpha Phi Omega Service Fraternity and the Mortar Board National Honor Society. She's served as the treasurer for both the Illinois Wesleyan Women of Color and the Illinois Wesleyan Black Student Union, was student researcher for the International Rice Research Institute and for the Chemistry and Biochemistry Departments. Additionally, Blair was the co-found and VP of Students of Color in STEM, served as a blood drive representative for Tri Beta and presented research at the Louis Stokes Midwest Regional Center of Excellence Conference. 

Both Ezewuzie's and Blair's nominations move onto the NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee, which is made up of representatives from the NCAA membership. The committee chooses the top 30 honorees including 10 from each division. From the top 30, the committee determines the top three honorees from each division and announces the nine finalists in September. The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics then chooses from among those nine to determine the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year, which will be announced this fall.

CCIW Woman of the Year Winners
2020-21 – Favor Ezewuzie – Wheaton (Women's Track & Field) 
2019-20 – Megan Behrendt – Carthage (Women's Volleyball)
2018-19 – Tyler Brown – Illinois Wesleyan (Women's Volleyball)
2017-18 – Amelia Glueck – Illinois Wesleyan (Women's Track & Field)
2016-17 – Meg Stanley – Illinois Wesleyan (Women's Swimming)
2015-16 – Jill Harmon – Illinois Wesleyan (Women's Track & Field)
2014-15 – Kelsey Graham – Wheaton (Women's Soccer)
2013-14 – Lexi Baltes – Illinois Wesleyan (Women's Basketball)
2012-13 – Elise Anderson – Illinois Wesleyan (Women's Cross Country/Track & Field)
2011-12 – Lauren Knaack – Illinois Wesleyan (Women's Soccer)
2010-11 – Elizabeth Ave Maria – Illinois Wesleyan (Women's Cross Country/Track & Field)
2009-10 – Lindsey Haines – Illinois Wesleyan (Women's Golf)
2008-09 – Nicole Spear – Illinois Wesleyan (Women's Golf)
2007-08 – Sarah Richardson – Wheaton (Women's Soccer)
2006-07 – Meghan Voiland – Augustana (Women's Track & Field)
2005-06 – Melinda Sprague – Illinois Wesleyan (Women's Cross Country/Track & Field)
The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services nine member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, IL), Carroll University (Waukesha, WI), Carthage College (Kenosha, WI), Elmhurst College (Elmhurst, IL), Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, IL), Millikin University (Decatur, IL), North Central College (Naperville, IL), North Park University (Chicago, IL) and Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL).