INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Central Missouri's Madi Wulfekotter is one of 30 NCAA student-athletes to be named a finalist for the 2023 NCAA Woman of the Year Award. 

Established in 1991, NCAA Woman of the Year award is rooted in Title IX and recognizes female student-athletes who have completed their undergraduate studies and distinguished themselves in their community, in athletics and in academics throughout their college careers.

Selected from a record-breaking 619 nominees submitted by member schools — a group that was then narrowed to 164 nominees at the conference level — the Top 30 honorees include 10 from each of the three NCAA divisions. Each honoree has demonstrated excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership.

The honorees represent 15 sports, including two student-athletes representing NCAA Emerging Sports for Women. They have a variety of majors, including national security and intelligence, neuroscience, economics, civil engineering, education, nursing, computer science and business management.

A native of Odessa, Mo., Madi Wulfekotter is a four-time U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) first-team All-American, with four top four individual finishes at the NCAA Division II Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field Championships. She holds the sixth best indoor pole vault in NCAA Division II track and field history and the seventh best outdoor pole vault. Wulfekotter is a five-time All-Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) team member and was a finalist for the MIAA 2022-23 Ken B. Jones Award, recognizing top student-athletes. She had five second-place conference championship finishes and was a contributor to the Jennies' 2021 indoor conference title. The UCM 2023 Dr. Peggy Martin Outstanding Senior Female Athlete Award winner holds program records in the indoor (4.26 meters) and outdoor pole vault (4.31 meters). Wulfekotter, who majored in elementary education, earned USTFCCCA All-Academic honors five times in her career. The 2023 College Sports Communicators Academic All-America second-team selection was also a five-time MIAA Scholar-Athlete. Wulfekotter was on the Central Missouri Literacy Team, reading to local elementary school students, in addition to volunteering in local elementary school classrooms. She supported incoming freshmen as a mentor at Central Missouri, as well as tutoring underclass students. She also volunteered as a youth pole vault coach, as an official at track meets and at Central Missouri's Campus Cupboard.

The selection committee will determine three honorees from each NCAA division, for a total of nine finalists. From those finalists, the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will choose the 2023 NCAA Woman of the Year.

The NCAA Woman of the Year will be named, and the Top 30 will be celebrated at the NCAA Convention in January.