UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State women's soccer alumna Kerry Abello was selected as the Big Ten's conference nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year award announced on Monday.
The NCAA Woman of the Year program honors senior student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their college careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership.
Abello was one of 577 women nominated by their school for the national award and now is one of 53 Division I nominees selected by a conference. Conference offices then reviewed all nominees from their member schools, and the Big Ten selected Abello as a nominee based on her outstanding achievements during her collegiate career.
Last fall, Abello graduated from Penn State and the Schreyer Honors College with a perfect 4.0 grade point average and dual degrees in science and Spanish. As a student, she trained in the biomedical engineering lab and conducted her own experiments concerning cancer cell research.
She became the first women's player to earn four Academic All-America honors and is the second in the PSU women's soccer program's history to earn three first-team Academic All-America accolades.
In 2021, Abello also became the third Nittany Lion named CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year in back-to-back years.
A five-year letterwinner and two-time captain for Penn State, Abello has been a member of two Big Ten Championship teams and two Big Ten Tournament Championship teams. In her career as a Nittany Lion, she appeared in 92 games with 70 starts while tallying 17 goals and 10 assists.
The Batavia, Ill. native is a three-time All-Big Ten honoree, and in 2020, she was the recipient of the Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship Award. She is also a three-time All-North Region honoree and took home first team designation in her final collegiate season.
Her time at Penn State also saw her receive the Big Ten Medal of Honor and Senior CLASS Award All-American honors.
Abello was also active on campus and the community serving as a member of the Student Athlete Advisory Board (SAAB) THON committee.
Following her successful academic and athletic career at Penn State, Abello now plays professionally for the National Women's Soccer League's, Orlando Pride. Following her retirement from soccer, Abello plans to attend medical school to become an orthopedic surgeon.
Next, conference-level nominations will be forwarded to the selection committee, which will choose the top-10 honorees in each of the three NCAA divisions. The NCAA will announce the Top-30 honorees in October.
From those 30 candidates, the selection committee determines the top three finalists in each division. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will select the Woman of the Year from the nine finalists. The 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced during an award ceremony at the NCAA Convention in January.
