NESCAC News

NESCAC Announces Nominees for D3CA Women's Sport Student-Athlete of the Year

HADLEY, Mass. - Seven student-athletes have been nominated to represent the NESCAC as its Division III Commissioners Association (D3CA) Women's Sport Student-Athlete of the Year nominee. A committee of conference administrators will select the NESCAC's representative for the awards.
 
The DIIICA Women's Sports Student-Athlete of the Year Awards honors graduating student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service, and leadership.
  
Caroline Adams, Middlebury Women’s Lacrosse
  • Graduated Summa Cum Laude with a 3.96 GPA from Middlebury as a double major in neuroscience and Spanish. Was a Phi Beta Kappa inductee.
  • Awarded the Hazeltine-Klevenow Trophy as the top scholar-athlete at Middlebury in 2025-26 and the President's Undergraduate Language Scholar in 2024. Adams was a four-time NESCAC All-Academic Team selection, the 2026 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-America At-Large Division III Team Member of the Year and an Academic All-American. Adams was the Division III Honda Award Finalist for women’s lacrosse in 2026.
  • Adams helped Middlebury win four consecutive NCAA Women’s Lacrosse titles. She was the 2026 IWLCA National Player of the Year and a three-time All-American. The  NESCAC Offensive Player of the Year in 2026, she earned All-NESCAC honors all four years and garnered the Regional Player of the Year accolade and All-Region honors as a senior.
  • She graduated as Middlebury's career leader in draw controls (473) and was a four-time NCAA All-Tournament Team selection while being named the NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player in 2026.
  • Adams was the Chairperson of the Middlebury SAAC Sustainability group, a mentor for Women in Health Sciences, a Spanish interpreter at Open Door Clinic, a mentor in the "Everybody Wins" reading program at a local elementary school, and was a top-30 contributor in Middlebury's community-service hours program.
Molly Brumbach, Wesleyan Women's Soccer
  • Graduated from Wesleyan with a 3.92 GPA as an American studies major with a concentration in entertainment and media and a minor in religion.
  • Was a two-time College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District honoree and a United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-American in 2024.
  • Became Wesleyan’s first two-time All-American after being selected to the United Soccer Coaches First Team in 2025 and earning Second Team All-America honors in 2024. She also earned First Team All-Region I accolades twice. The 2024 NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year, Brumbach was a three-time All-NESCAC performer.
  • Brumbach graduated as Wesleyan's all-time leader in shutouts (21), save percentage (.867), and goals against average (0.70). She set single-season program records in save percentage (.899) and goals against average (0.66).
  • The three-time team captain helped lead Wesleyan to two NCAA Tournament appearances and was honored with the 2025 Hoagland Award by Wesleyan’s Athletic Department. It is presented annually to senior female athletes who make outstanding contributions to women’s athletics.
  • Brumbach is set to run the 2026 NYC Marathon to raise funds for the Release Recovery Foundation (substance abuse/mental health recovery access). She is a founding member of the Wesleyan Sports Business Club and a Habitat for Humanity volunteer.
Lily Codd, Williams Women’s Swimming & Diving
  • Graduated from Williams with a 3.65 GPA as a double major in biology and statistics with a concentration in Asian studies. She published a thesis on genetics to earn honors in Biology with Thesis.
  • A four-time CSCAA Academic All-District honoree, Codd was inducted into the Mu Sigma Rho Statistics National Honors Society as a senior and earned Dean's List honors all four years.
  • A 12-time All-NESCAC performer during her career, she owns the NESCAC meet record in the 1000 freestyle and two pool records around the NESCAC. She was the NESCAC Career High Points Runner-Up in 2026 and earned the Leonard S. Prince Rookie of the Year honor in 2023 and the  Neisa Muir High Point Award & Muir Award for Leadership/Performance in 2026 from the Williams program. She was also named to the NACDA All-State Good Works Winter 2025 Team.
  • Codd won three individual and a pair of relay conference titles and was a member of the Ephs’ NESCAC Championship teams in 2024, 2025, and 2026, while finishing as runner-up in 2023.
  • Codd served as Williams SAAC President as a senior and was a member of the Executive Board as a sophomore and junior. She founded and led the Special Olympics swimming program at Williams while also serving as a youth swim instructor. She worked as a genetics lab assistant/thesis researcher, was a member of the Class of 2026 Leadership Team, and worked pro bono consulting for Berkshires nonprofits Alhambra Consulting Group.
Hannah Jiang, Tufts Women’s Rowing
  • Jiang graduated Summa Cum Laude from Tufts with a 3.88 GPA as a cognitive and brain science major and a philosophy minor.
  • A two-time College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-American, she was a three-time NESCAC All-Academic Team selection and a two-time CSC Academic All-District honoree. Jiang was presented with Tufts' Human Factors Engineering Prize in 2025–26 and named a College Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) Scholar-Athlete.
  • As a coxswain, Jiang helped Tufts win three consecutive NCAA Championships and was the coxswain for the first-place NCAA 1V8 boat in 2025 and 2026. She was a three-time CRCA First Team All-American, a two-time NESCAC Team Champion, and competed at the 2025 Henley Royal Regatta in England.
  • During Jiang’s career, Tufts won three Head of the Charles Collegiate Eights trophies and four Points Trophies at the National Invitational Championships. She was also presented with the 2025-26 Rudolph J. Fobert Award by Tufts.
  • Jiang served as the women’s rowing team’s DEIJ Officer, was President of Tufts' Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, served as Head of Design for JumboCode (pro bono nonprofit software); worked as a Course Assistant for two upper-level courses and co-designed and co-taught a peer course on sports psychology. She also mentored high school coxswains and was a Campus Tour Guide.
Grace McDonough, Conn. College Women’s Cross Country & Track & Field
  • McDonough graduated from Conn. College with a 4.00 GPA as a triple major in psychology, human development, and educational studies. She was a Phi Beta Kappa and a Psi Chi Honor Society inductee.
  • She was two-time College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-American, a three-time CSC Academic All-District selection, a four-time USTFCCCA All-Academic Athlete, and a nine-time NESCAC All-Academic Team selection. McDonough was a Langer Scholar, a Founders Scholarship recipient, and earned Dean's High Honors every semester.
  • Was a seven-time USTFCCCA All-America and garnered USTFCCCA All-Region honors 13 times. The 2025 NESCAC Outdoor Track & Field Most Outstanding Performer, she was a three-time NESCAC Champion and a five-time All-NESCAC athlete.
  • McDonough earned the Debbie Aitken Award (Most Outstanding Track Performer) at the 2026 New England Division III Championship and was a seven-time New England Division III Champion. She was presented with the 2026 Anita DeFrantz Award as Conn. College's top female student-athlete. McDonough competed in nine NCAA Championship meets, the most by a woman in program history.
  • She was the team representative for One Love, a mentor for Caring Camels, a pediatric hospital volunteer at Elliot Hospital, and a special-education classroom support across several local schools.
Natalie Stott, Amherst Women’s Ice Hockey
  • Graduated from Amherst as a double major in economics and psychology and carried a 3.834 GPA.
  • Was a three-time NESCAC All-Academic Team honoree, a three-time College Sports Communications (CSC) Academic All-District Team (2024, 2025, 2026), and a three-time AHCA Academic All-American Scholar. At Amherst, Stott was honored with the Amherst College Psi Upsilon Prize as a senior, the Samuel Walley Brown Award as a junior, and the Gordon B. Perry Memorial Award as a first-year.
  • Earned First Team All-America honors all four years and was runner-up for the National Player of the Year honor in 2025–26. Stott was the NESCAC Rookie of the Year in 2022-23 and a four-time All-NESCAC selection. She helped Amherst win three NESCAC titles and finish as the NCAA National Runners-Up twice and closed out her career as the NCAA Division III all-time leader in wins (86), shutouts (45), and career save percentage (.960).
  • Stott was the Amherst Team MVP all four years and a four-time New England Hockey Writers Association All-Star along with the organization’s MVP in 2024–25 and 2025–26. She also garnered Amherst's Howard Hill Mossman Trophy as a senior.
  • A team captain as a senior, she was the Class Marshall for the Class of 2026 at graduation. She also participated in the Amherst Leads program, served as the Mammoth Mascot, was a Peer Tutor and Math Fellow. She also worked in Events Operations for the ice hockey and field hockey programs and co-founded the "Pink in the Rink" cancer-charity fundraiser.
  • In the classroom, Stott co-developed a special-topics psychology course, "Autobiographical Memory and Athletics," with Professor Matthew Schulkind, researching how past game experiences shape athletic performance.
Tally Zeller, Colby Women’s Track & Field
  • Graduated Magna Cum Laude from Colby with a 4.00 GPA as a double major in economics and government.
  • Was a Dean's List student (2024–2026) and a two-time College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-American. Zeller was presented with the Ernest Parsons Economics Award for the highest GPA in economics/finance and garnered a spot on the NESCAC All-Academic Team five times.
  • Was a six-time All-American, a six-time USTFCCCA All-Region athlete and a four-time All-NESCAC performer. Won the NCAA title in the 4x400 indoor relay. Zeller is part of the Colby 4x200 relay team that owns the NCAA record in the event. She also owns four Colby school records and ranks among the Mules’ Top-10 All-Timer Performances 10 times across multiple events.
  • Was presented with the 2026 E.W. Millet Award, Colby's top male & female athlete contribution award. Also earned the 2026 Patty Valavanis '80 Award for athletic achievement, academic excellence, sportsmanship, and campus-community involvement.
  • A team captain, Zeller was President of the Colby Student Investment Association (2025–26), volunteered at the Waterville Area Soup Kitchen, was a Finance Fellow at DavisConnects, was a member of the Colby Outdoor Orientation Trips (COOT), a Campus Ambassador for Girls Who Invest & The Swedish Program, an Ambassador to the Tuck Business Bridge, and was a hiring-committee participant at Colby.