INDIANAPOLIS – 2024 senior and Fresno State graduate Amelia DiPaola has moved forward in the selection process for the NCAA Woman of the Year as she has been selected by the Mountain West as one of the conference's two nominees.
DiPaola had an impressive year on and off the track for Fresno State. In her final season she became the first Bulldog since 2014 to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the hammer throw, finishing 21st to earn All-America Honorable Mention. A four-time qualifier for the NCAA West Preliminary Round, DiPaola was also a two-time All-Mountain West performer.
Off the track, DiPaola was a five-time Academic All-Mountain West and Mountain West Scholar-Athlete honoree, was named USTFCCCA All-Academic four times and was twice selected College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District. She graduated magna cum laude in May in animal science and has been accepted into veterinary school.
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 2024.
The NCAA announced a record 627 nominees were submitted from schools across the country. Conference offices could choose up to two student-athletes from their member school nominations if at least one was an international student-athlete or student-athlete of color.
The next steps in the process include the Woman of the Year Selection Committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will choose the Top 30 honorees – 10 from each division – from the conference-level nominees. The Top 30 honorees will be announced in the fall. The selection committee will then determine the top three honorees in each division from the Top 30 to comprise the group of nine finalists, later in the fall. From those nine finalists, the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will choose the 2024 NCAA Woman of the Year. The honorees will be celebrated at the Woman of the Year Award Presentation at the NCAA Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, in January.
Amelia DiPaola
DiPaola, a native of Fremont, Calif., graduated with a 3.84 cumulative GPA while earning her animal science degree with an emphasis in pre-veterinary studies.
She concluded her career with her first appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, finishing as a Honorable Mention All-American.
She is a two-time All-Mountain West honoree in the hammer (2022, 2024).
She set personal bests in both the hammer (62.89m/206-4) and shot put (15.02m/49-3.5) during 2024.
She ranks No. 5 on the program's all-time list in the hammer and No. 10 in the shot put.
Scored in both the hammer (3rd) and shot put (6th) at the Mountain West Outdoor Championships and in the weight throw (8th) and shot put (5th) at the MW Indoor Championships.
She is a four-time USTFCCCA All-Academic honoree and a two-time CSC Academic All-District Team selection.
Won Fresno State's Community Service Award.
Served on the Bulldogs' Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, for which she was MW representative in 2021-22, president in 2022-23 and community service chair in 2023-24.
DiPaola volunteered at Fresno Bully Rescue and with the United States Twirling Association West Region and National Championships and served as a baton twirling coach and ice hockey coach.