Barry’s Linda Fritschken Honored as SSC Woman of the Year
MELBOURNE, Fla. - Barry women’s tennis player Linda Fritschken has been named the 2014-15 Sunshine State Conference Woman of the Year. Fritschken is the fifth Buccaneer student-athlete in the last 10 years to win the award.
Fritschken was chosen from a pool of nominees in a vote conducted among the conference’s Athletic Directors, Senior Woman Administrators, Athletic Communication Directors, and Faculty Athletic Representatives from each of the nine member institutions.
Fritschken, a public relations major with a 3.98 grade-point average, was recently named the 2014-15 Dr. M. Eileen McDonough SSC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year. A four-time member of the SSC Commissioner’s Honor Roll and a four-time ITA Scholar All-American, Fritschken has been a Barry University Dean’s List honoree five times and a President’s List honoree twice.
The Berlin, Germany, native is coming off a season in which she was named a ITA Doubles All-American on her way to helping Barry through the 2015 NCAA Division II Tournament to National Runner Up. During the national tournament she received the prestigious Elite 89 Award, an honor bestowed to the athlete with the highest GPA that is competing at each final NCAA championship site.
Serving as a team captain from 2013-15, Fritschken will be leaving Barry with a number of all-time school accolades. She currently holds the top spot in career doubles wins (96) and career doubles win percentage (.906) She is tied for fourth in singles win (69) and in singles win percentage (.908). She was selected a two time ITA All-American in both singles (2012, 2014) and doubles play (2014, 2015).
Fritschken’s career was full of accolades from beginning to end as she was named the 2012 ITA South Region Rookie of the Year as a freshman and 2015 ITA South Region Senior of the Year her final year. In between, Fritschken won two ITA doubles national championships and two ITA small college super bowl doubles championships before also helping Barry to the 2014 NCAA Division II Team National Title.
While she has helped run the multiple tennis camps for both Barry University and the United States Tennis Association, Fritschken has also volunteered her time in events outside of tennis such as Food for the Poor, Feeding South Florida, Miami Shores Community Fest, MLK Day of Service, and Light the Night.
About 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year Award
Fritschken will join a record 147 NCAA Woman of the Year honorees including fellow Sunshine State Conference athlete Caitlin Chase of Florida Southern College.
These honorees, were selected from the record 480 school nominees, represent college athletes from 18 different sports spanning all three NCAA divisions. Of those recognized, 57 honorees competed in Division I, 39 competed in Division II and 51 competed in Division III.
The Woman of the Year selection committee will next select the top 10 honorees in each division. These top 30 honorees will be announced in early September. The selection committee will then choose and announce the top nine finalists (three from each division) at the end of September. The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics will vote from amongst those nine finalists to determine the 2015 Woman of the Year.
The top 30 honorees will be honored and the 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year will be named at the annual ceremony in Indianapolis on Oct. 18.
Now in its 25th year, the NCAA Woman of the Year award recognizes graduating female student-athletes for excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership.
To view the list of conference nominees, click here.
SSC Woman of the Year Winner Since 2005-06
2014-15: Linda Fritschken, Barry University
2013-14: Ellen Chambers, Lynn University
2012-13: Lauren Boudreau, Nova Southeastern University
2011-12: Grace Collins, Barry University
2010-11: Barbara Pocza, Barry University
2009-10: Maria Garcia-Austt, Nova Southeastern University / Lydee Benoit, Eckerd Collete
2008-09: Shyla Rider, Barry
2007-08: Virginia Davenport, Saint Leo University
2006-07: Kelly Morrisroe, Eckerd
2005-06: Greta Trotman, Barry University