NAPERVILLE -- North Park multi-sport student-athlete Esther Miller has been named College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Women’s Student-Athlete of the Year, according to a Tuesday announcement from the conference office.
 
Miller, a Sullivan, Ill. native that participated in basketball, golf, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field, was selected through nomination and voting processes conducted by the league’s Senior Woman Administrators and Faculty Athletics Representatives. She is North Park’s first recipient of the CCIW Women’s Student-Athlete of the Year award.
 
In competition, Miller was a two-time USTFCCA All-Region selection (2022 outdoor, 2023 indoor) in track & field and was chosen for the All-CCIW Women’s Basketball Second Team after the 2021-22 season. The only North Park student-athlete to participate in four sports during the 2022-23 academic year, Miller was a CCIW Student-Athlete of the Week in both basketball (1/9/2023) and outdoor track & field (5/3/2022), was a 2023 RESPECT Award recipient in women’s basketball and was twice selected NPU’s Female Sportsperson of the Year (2021, 2023).
 
Miller, who graduated Magna Cum Laude from North Park in 2023, was selected for the 2023 College Sports Communicators Track & Field Academic All-District Team and was chosen as a USTFCCA All-Academic Athlete in 2022. She was named to the NPU Dean’s List seven times, a six-time CCIW Dave Wrath Academic All-Conference honoree and the recipient of the CCIW Jack Swartz Academic All-Conference award in 2022.
 
In addition to her achievements on the court and on the track, Miller has been heavily involved in the campus and surrounding communities. Among her campus activities and leadership positions are memberships in the American Astronomical Society, American Physical Society, Honors Congress, University Ministries, Physics and Engineering Club and The Hidden Opponent. She has also been a member of NPU’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), a resident assistant and a student photographer for NPU athletics.
 
Miller’s nomination now advances to the NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee, which is made up of representatives from the NCAA membership. Later this fall, 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. The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics then chooses from among those nine to determine the 2023 NCAA Woman of the Year, which will be announced at the 2024 NCAA Convention in January.
 
The CCIW Women's Student-Athlete of the Year award honors senior women's athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership.
 
CCIW Women's Student-Athletes of the Year Winners
2022-23 – Esther Miller – North Park (Women’s Basketball, Women’s Track & Field, Women’s Golf)
2021-22 – Ellen Gilbert – Illinois Wesleyan (Women's Swimming & Diving)
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)