ROMEOVILLE, Ill. -- Former Lewis women's soccer player Abigail Gustafson was named one of the Great Lakes Valley Conference nominees for the 2023 NCAA Women of the Year Award. Gustafson now moves on to the national selection process where she will compete against representatives from 21 other conferences for the NCAA Woman of the Year.

Gustafson was a five-year letter winner for the women's soccer team after seeing action in 77 matches for the Flyers. She has helped the Flyers to the GLVC Tournament four times during her career.  She was named All-GLVC First Team and Academic All-American Third Team in 2021 and 2022 while being named to the DII Conference Commissioners Association All-Midwest Region Second Team and CoSIDA Academic All-District Team in 2021.  

Gustafson was also named to the NSCAA All-Region Team and the CSC Academic All-District Team in 2022. 
 
Gustafson made the Dean's List every semester at Lewis and is a five-time recipient of the Brother James Gaffney Distinguished Scholar Award, which is given to student-athletes who achieve a perfect 4.0 GPA over the course of an academic year. During her senior year, Gustafson was named the 2022 female recipient of the Brother David Delahanty Senior Student-Athlete of the Year Award while earning her fourth Delahanty medallion while graduating with honors after double majoring in business administration and political science. 
 
During the summer of 2022, Gustafson interned in Washington DC for US representative Bill Foster of the 11^th congressional district of Illinois.  

Gustafson returned for her fifth year at Lewis and completed her master's degree and was named team captain of the women's soccer program while working as a graduate assistant in the Lewis University Office of Advancement. Her future plans are to pursue a career that combines both government and business.  She started her career this summer as a consultant for BTS. 

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