Drop Among Top 30 for 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year Award

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (October 13, 2022) - Samantha Drop, a former student-athlete at the University of Georgia who competed in cross country/indoor and outdoor track & field, is among the top 30 honorees for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year Award.

Established in 1991, the NCAA Woman of the Year Award recognizes female student-athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in their community, in athletics and in academics throughout their college careers.

From the Top 30, the Woman of the Year Selection Committee will announce nine finalists - three from each NCAA division. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will review the finalists and name the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year.

For the first time in the award's history, the Top 30 honorees will be celebrated and the Woman of the Year will be celebrated at the NCAA Convention, which will take place in January 2023 in San Antonio.

Drop graduated summa cum laude in nutritional sciences with a minor in animal sciences and is currently working on her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in Athens. She was nominated as Georgia's female candidate for the 2022 SEC H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Postgraduate Scholarship. Drop was named the 2020 SEC Cross Country Women's Scholar-Athlete of the Year, along with being a member of the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team and a USTFCCCA Academic Individual selection. She earned the 2020 Joel Eaves Scholar-Athlete Award for being the UGA female student-athlete with the highest GPA entering the fall semester of her senior year. Drop advanced to the 2017 NCAA Championships with her twin sister and teammate Jessica and earned All-America honors after placing 30th overall. She earned NCAA Cross Country All-Region honors four times, claimed the 2017 NCAA South Regional title, and finished in the top eight twice at the SEC Cross Country Championships. A competitor at 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 10,000 meters, Drop remains third on the school's all-time list in the event and owns three other times that remain on the Lady Bulldogs all-time Top-10 lists. During her collegiate career at Georgia, Drop served as an Executive Board Member of the Special Olympics at UGA, and volunteered to coach the Athens-Clark County Special Olympics gymnastics team. She was also a member of the Student American Veterinary Medical Association Auction Committee, the Blue Key Society and Leadership Education and Development (LEAD). Drop served as the team representative on the UGA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).