INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Chattanooga softball's Emily Coltharp has been tabbed the Southern Conference's nominee for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year award.
'"We are extremely proud of Emily for the work she has exhibited on and off the field," said Vice-Chancellor and Director of Athletics Mark Wharton. "Throughout her four years at Chattanooga, she has excelled in the classroom, on the diamond and in the community."
Coltharp won the Southern Conference batting title for the second time in her four-year career and the first after a full season. The McDonough, Georgia, native is the first Moc to win the batting title in a complete season since 2012. She hit .381 as the primarily leadoff hitter for the squad, registering a league-high 72 hits in 189 at bats. Coltharp's 72 hits were 30th in all of Division I and she posted a team-best 25 multi-hit games.
She stole 24 bases last season, which is tied for the fifth-most in a single UTC season and the most since 2011. Coltharp's 72 hits are tied for the seventh-most in program history and the most since 2008. She concluded the season with a .362 career batting average, the seventh-best in program history. She earned All-SoCon first-team accolades for the second time in her career and was also tabbed to the All-SoCon Tournament team after the team won its 15th tournament title.
"It's been exciting to watch Emily come in as a freshman and grow as a leader and as a representative on campus over the last four years," said Chattanooga coach Frank Reed. "The values that she brings to our program every day is exactly what we try to instill at Chattanooga."
Coltharp graduated in May with a 3.60 GPA in human resource management. She will return to campus in August to pursue a master's degree in business administration.
She is the ninth Moc to earn the SoCon's nomination for the award and second in the last two years after Chloe Arnold earned the distinction in 2021.
Former Chattanooga recipients:
2021 – Chloe Arnold, soccer
2018 – Megan Woods, golf
2016 – Alicia Payne, basketball
2012 – Michelle Fuzzard, softball
2011 – Tiffany Baker, softball
2010 – Shanara Hollinquest, basketball
2008 – Alex Anderson, basketball
2007 – Shannon Womack, track & field/cross country
The 151 nominees represent student-athletes spanning all three NCAA divisions. Of those nominated, 53 competed in Division I, 39 in Division II and 59 in Division III.
Conferences can recognize two nominees if at least one is a woman of color or international student-athlete. All nominees who compete in a sport not sponsored by their school's primary conference, as well as associate conference nominees and independent nominees, were placed in a separate pool to be considered by a selection committee. Three nominees from the pool were selected to move forward in the process with the conference nominees.
The Woman of the Year Selection Committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will now choose the Top 30 honorees — 10 from each division — from the conference-level nominees. The Top 30 honorees will be announced in September. 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 then will choose the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year.