Candise Lockett of Mount Olive and Jami Wright of Southern Wesleyan Named Conference Carolinas Nominees for NCAA Woman of the Year Award
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Candise Lockett of Mount Olive and Jami Wright of Southern Wesleyan will be the official nominees from Conference Carolinas for the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
Lockett has earned numerous awards while at Mount Olive, including being named a two-time USTFCCCA All-Region selection, a five-time conference champion, a six-time team conference champion, as well as having earned the title as Mount Olive’s school and conference record holder in the hammer and the weight throw. In addition, she was also a Conference Carolinas Murphy Osborne Nominee and a Conference Carolinas Spring Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Lockett also became the first track and field athlete to represent Mount Olive at the NCAA Division II Track and Field National Championships as a field participant. Lockett participated in the hammer and finished 20th at the 2019 championships. She is still the only Trojan to represent Mount Olive at a national championship event in fielding events.
The Birmingham, England native is double majoring in Graphic Design and Art with a minor in Business Marketing. Lockett already had the credits to graduate, but she is using her additional year of eligibility this upcoming academic year. She owns a 3.92 grade-point average.
A native of Stafford, Virginia, Wright has put together one of the strongest track & field careers in Conference Carolinas history. The 2020 Conference Carolinas Indoor Track Athlete of the Year and the 2021 Conference Carolinas Outdoor Track & Field Athlete of the Year was named the USTFCCCA NCAA Division II Southeast Region Track Athlete of the Year this past outdoor season. As a graduate student this past spring, Wright posted the top time in all of NCAA Division II during the outdoor regular season (23.58) in the 200 meters. Wright’s success was not just over the past two seasons with the standout earning all-conference honors in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. She was also an all-region selection in all five of the seasons. Wright posted All-American honors in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Wright participated in the NCAA Division II Championships all three of those years. Wright finished her amazing career recently by earning All-America accolades in the 200 and 400 meters at the 2021 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Wright finished her undergraduate studies at Southern Wesleyan with a degree in Religion with a concentration in Youth and Children Ministry. She owned a 3.74 grade-point average as an undergraduate. Wright has already started her Master of Science in Management studies. She is concentrating in Human Resources in her Master’s degree work. Wright boasts a 4.0 grade-point average in her Master’s degree studies.
The NCAA Woman of the Year program was established in 1991 and honors the academic achievements, athletics excellence, community service and leadership of graduating female college athletes from all three divisions. To be eligible, a nominee must have competed and earned a varsity letter in an NCAA-sponsored sport and must have earned her undergraduate degree by Summer 2021.
Eligible female student-athletes are nominated by their member school. Each conference office then reviews the nominations from its core member schools (and sponsored sports) and submits its conference nominee(s) to the NCAA. All nominees who compete in a sport that is not sponsored by their school’s primary conference, as well as associate conference nominees and independent nominees, will be sent to a separate pool to be considered by a committee.
The NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee then identifies the Top 30 – 10 from each division –and from there selects three finalists from each division. From the nine finalists, the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics then selects the NCAA Woman of the Year, who will be named later this fall.
To learn more about the NCAA Woman of the Year program, please visit
HERE.