INDIANAPOLIS (July 27) – Former California University of Pennsylvania cross country and track & field standout Alex Zanella (Everett, Pa./Everett) was formally announced as a nominee for the 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year on Wednesday afternoon.

The NCAA Woman of the Year award honors graduate female student-athletes who distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate career in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership.

Zanella closed her career as one of the most decorated runners in school history, while helping the Vulcans achieve program milestones in both cross country and track & field. She holds four school records, won 11 league titles at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships and competed at the NCAA Championships five times in her career. Zanella also was a two-time College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) First-Team Academic All-American and was selected to the PSAC Top 10 four times over her last two years.

In addition to her athletic and academic success, Zanella served as a Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) representative and was a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) while at Cal U. She participated in various food drives and roadside clean-ups, while educating parents on the importance of reading to their child through the Raising Readers program. Zanella also has served as a youth group leader and collected donations through the Sponsor My Week campaign held by the cross country program. The Everett product is completing her graduate assistantship within the Elementary Education department on campus and has aided professors, assisted the office and developed a lending library.

Zanella earned her bachelor's degree in elementary education (PreK-4) from Cal U in Spring 2015 with a 3.96 cumulative grade-point average (GPA). She is currently finishing her master's degree in reading specialist and holds a 3.93 cumulative GPA while in graduate school.

A standout distance runner, Zanella won individual league titles in the 800-meter run (three times), 1,500-meter run (twice) and 1-mile run (twice) throughout her track & field career. She helped the distance medley relay claim conference titles in each of the last three seasons and was a member on the winning 4x800-meter relay this spring. Zanella was selected for the NCAA Championships in the 1 mile in each of the past two years and received NCAA All-America status in the event as a junior by placing fifth in the finals.

Zanella qualified for the NCAA National Championships in cross country as an individual in 2013 before redshirting the following fall. This past season, she placed in the top-10 overall at the regional championships for the second time in her career and helped the Vulcans capture their first cross country regional title. Cal U earned an automatic team bid to the NCAA National Championships, the first for the program since competing at the NCAA Division II level.

The NCAA encourages member schools to honor their top graduating female student-athletes each year by submitting their names for consideration for the Woman of the Year award. Next, conferences assess their member school nominees and select up to two conference nominees. The Woman of the Year selection committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will then choose the top 30 honorees – 10 from each division.

From the top 30, the selection committee determines the top three honorees from each division and announces the nine finalists in September. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics then chooses from among those nine to determine the 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year.

The top 30 honorees will be celebrated and the 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year winner will be announced at the annual award ceremony on October 16 in Indianapolis, Indiana.