Hope College junior Carrie Snikkers has been nominated as a candidate for the 2009-2010 Division III Athlete of the Year representing basketball.
Snikkers, a junior from Jenison, Mich. (Unity Christian HS), was earlier voted the NCAA Division III State Farm/WBCA player of the year by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA).
Now in its 34th year, the Collegiate Women Sports Awards program recognizes annually the top woman collegiate athlete in each of 11 sports in Division III as nominees for Athlete of the Year.
Athletes are nominated by national coaches associations for each of 11 sports: basketball, cross country, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field and volleyball. The athletes are placed on ballots sent to Senior Women Administrators at all Division III institutions in June. The Athlete of the Year is determined by the outcome of the voting.
The awards program is sponsored by American Honda Motor Co., Inc. and to celebrate these awards American Honda Motor Co., Inc. donates $1,000 to each nominee's university institution. The winner's institutions receives $5,000.
The award will be presented June 21 in Los Angeles.
Co-captain of this year's basketball team, Snikkers is a two-time All-American. Hope during her career has posted an 89-4 record, won three consecutive conference championships, advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament all three seasons and this year played in the national championship game.
This year, despite missing eight games at mid-season with a foot stress fracture, she has set a Hope single season record for blocked shots (66). With a season left in her career, she already owns the Hope career mark for blocked shots."
This season she is averaged 14.4 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. In NCAA tournament games she averaged double-figures in points (20.3 points) and rebounds (10.3). She set a single season record for blocked shots (71) and will enter her senior as the career leader in blocks (171).
She is a graduate of Unity Christian High School where as a senior she played on a state championship team. She was also second in the voting for Miss Michigan Basketball as a high school senior.
A communications major at Hope, she is the daughter of John and Grace Snikkers. She has five siblings, including a younger brother Tom who was a starter as a freshman on the Calvin College basketball team.
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