Jami Wright of Southern Wesleyan Named Top 30 Honoree for 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year Award
INDIANAPOLIS - Jami Wright of Southern Wesleyan has been selected as one of the top 30 honorees for the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
“We are extremely proud of Jami for advancing to the final 30 for this prestigious award,” Commissioner Chris Colvin said. “Jami has not only competed at an elite level in her career, but she has also shown amazing sportsmanship and high character throughout her career. I saw it firsthand when she competed in our Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Championships over the last couple of years. Jami is the perfect example of what it means in Conference Carolinas to be a true champion in Body, Mind, and Soul.”
According to Conference Carolinas records, Wright is the first top 30 finalist for the conference since Samantha Mitchell of Mount Olive was tabbed as a top nine finalist in the 2007-08 academic year.
A native of Stafford, Virginia, Wright 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.
Established in 1991, the NCAA Woman of the Year award is rooted in Title IX and recognizes graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their NCAA eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their collegiate careers.
Selected from 535 school nominees — a group that was then narrowed to 154 nominees by conference offices — the Top 30 honorees include 10 from each of the three NCAA divisions. All have demonstrated excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership. The honorees represent 12 sports and an array of academic majors, including biology, psychology, mechanical engineering, education, software engineering and anthropology.
Candise Lockett of Mount Olive joined Wright as the official nominees from Conference Carolinas for the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
“We are thrilled to recognize the 30 honorees selected this year,” said John Kietzmann, chair of the selection committee and Associate Director of Athletics for Marketing at Metropolitan State University of Denver. “These women excelled in the classroom and competition, while still prioritizing serving their peers and communities despite the challenges they faced during the pandemic. They represent the thousands of women competing in college sports each year, and we congratulate them for their incredible achievements.”
The selection committee will determine the top three honorees in each division from the Top 30, and the nine finalists will be announced this fall. From those nine finalists, the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics will choose the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year.
On Tuesday, Nov. 9, during a virtual awards ceremony, the Top 30 honorees will be celebrated, and the NCAA Woman of the Year will be named.
To learn more about the NCAA Woman of the Year program, please visit
HERE. To learn more about the top 30, please visit
HERE. You can read the official release from Southern Wesleyan athletics
HERE.