Belle St. Jean Selected as Landmark Nominee for NCAA Woman of the Year

TOWSON, Md. - Belle St. Jean, a four-year member of the Goucher College women's soccer program who recently graduated, has been selected as one of two Landmark Conference nominees for the NCAA Woman of the Year award, it was announced on Wednesday.  St. Jean and Amira Hadry of Drew University are this year's Landmark nominees.

Eligible female student-athletes are nominated by their member school.  Each conference office across all three NCAA divisions then reviews the nominations from its core member schools and sponsored sports and submits its conference nominee(s) to the NCAA.  In the fall, the NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee identifies the Top 30 - 10 from each division - and from there selects three finalists from each division.  The Committee on Women's Athletics then selects the winner from the nine finalists.  The winner is announced at the 2025 NCAA Convention in January.

"Playing soccer at Goucher was an incredible experience and has helped prepare me for life after graduation," said St. Jean. "Being nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year is an immense honor and I am grateful to all of the people (especially my family and team) who have helped me reach this point."

"Belle is the epitome of a student-athlete. Belle sets high goals and puts in the work to reach those goals whether in the classroom or on the field," said former Goucher women's soccer coach Stephanie Ricketts-Preston '07. "Most important however is how amazing Belle is as a person and a teammate. Belle cares deeply, is always willing to listen, and helps people realize how great they are too. It was a pleasure coaching Belle and I'm excited to see what the future holds!"

A stalwart defender for the Gophers, St. Jean started all 50 games from 2021-23 (the Gophers did not play in 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic). A three-time Landmark Conference All-Conference selection, earning First Team honors in 2022 and Second Team in 2021 and 2023, St. Jean was a two-time United Soccer Coaches All-Region selection and was named All-ECAC as a senior. St. Jean is just the second three-time Landmark All-Conference selection in program history.

Graduating in December, 2023 with a perfect 4.0 GPA in psychology, St. Jean was the Landmark Senior Scholar-Athlete for women's soccer this past season and a finalist for the conference's overall Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year.  Belle was also a two-time College Sports Communicators All-District selection and a United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-Region selection as a junior and senior.

St. Jean volunteered as a research and office assistant with the Goucher Prison Education Program, providing academic tutoring and support for students completing their degrees while incarcerated.