Somek named CC Woman of the year

By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on June 5, 2007 1:52 PM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- Mount Olive College golfer Kate Somek has been named the 2007 Conference Carolinas Woman of the Year and is eligible for NCAA Woman of the Year honors.

Somek becomes the third Trojan student-athlete in two years to represent the conference in the NCAA Woman of the Year awards program. Mount Olive tennis player Lucia Henkle and golfer Lindsey Snyder shared the award in 2006, the first year winners were selected by conference.

The Woman of the Year Awards Program honors senior female student-athletes and recognizes excellence in athletics, academics and leadership. The NCAA will select 10 finalists in August from among the Division II conference winners, then narrow that number to three finalists in September. The NCAA will do the same for winners from Division I and Division III conferences.

A double-major from Sudbury, Ontario, Somek graduated summa cum laude in May with a bachelor of science degree in business management and human resource management, along with a minor in psychology. She compiled a cumulative 3.93 grade-point average and won the Mount Olive College Thomas R. Morris Award for Academic Excellence. She is a two-time Academic All-District and all-conference selection and was the 2006-07 Mount Olive College Female Scholar Athlete of the Year.

Somek spent her junior and senior years as president of the Mount Olive College chapter of Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda. She was also a member of the school psychology club and represented the Trojan women's golf team on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Somek helped the SAAC raise more than $2,100 towards the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

On the golf course, Somek earned All-Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference honorable mention in 2006 and was named to the all-tournament team at the 2005 CVAC Tournament after an eighth-place finish. She sank a 134-yard eagle on the par-4 15th hole in the final round of the tournament for a 77, which is tied for the second-lowest round in Trojan women's golf history.

The national NCAA Woman of the Year winner will be announced at an awards dinner October 27 in Indianapolis, Ind.