Carmichael Is NCAA nominee

NORMAN – Her competitive career ended two months ago. Still, Jennifer Carmichael continues to add to her accomplishments as she is a Big 12 nominee for the NCAA's Woman of the Year award. The announcement was made today by the NCAA.

Carmichael was selected as one of two nominees from the Big 12 Conference by the league's senior woman administrators. Blair Shankle, who played tennis at Baylor, is the second Big 12 nominee.

From a program-record pool of 543 school nominees, 145 female student-athletes have been nominated by conferences and an independent selection committee for consideration for the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year Award.

The nominees represent college athletes from 16 different sports spanning all three NCAA divisions. Of those recognized, 58 nominees competed in Division I, 34 in Division II and 53 in Division III.

For the first time, nominees competing in a sport not sponsored by their school's core conference were placed in a separate pool to be considered by a selection committee. Up to two independent nominees could be selected to move forward in the process with the conference nominees.

In early September, the Woman of the Year selection committee will name the Top 30 honorees, which include 10 women from each division. At the end of September, the selection committee will select and announce nine finalists, with three from each division. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will select the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year from those finalists.

The Top 30 honorees will be celebrated and the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year will be named at the annual banquet Oct. 22 in Indianapolis.

“After receiving the news that I was one of the Big 12's nominees for this award, I was truly speechless. Thinking about all the women that I look up to on my team, throughout the University of Oklahoma, within the Big 12, and in the NCAA, I was so humbled,” Carmichael said.

“The truth is my teammates have achieved far greater success than I have on the track, they've invested more of themselves into the community, they've accomplished more in the classroom, and I gain so much strength from them. To be considered for this award representing all of us, our team, and what we've accomplished - what we've contributed to society - it is the greatest honor.

“This honor is really special because it has so much to do with my team. … Ultimately, this honor is special because it is about every woman who has touched my life and left me better through this incredible team I call family,” Carmichael added.

Carmichael, from Tulsa, joined the Sooner program in 2013 as a discus thrower. She recorded a PR of 163-2.00 in the 2017 Big 12 Championship on her way to an eighth-place finish. She also competed in the Big 12 meet in 2013 and 2016 after redshirting in 2014. She received her bachelor's degree with summa cum laude distinction in engineering in 2016. She is currently working on a master of arts in global affairs through an OU online program.

During the 2015-16 academic year, Carmichael was selected to serve as a member of the Homecoming Court. Nominated by OU's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, a group she was serving as president of at the time, she became the first female student-athlete to be named to the Homecoming Court as one of the finalists for homecoming queen.

Two weeks later, Carmichael was named Outstanding Senior Woman at OU, another first for a Sooner student-athlete. That award came after she had applied for outstanding senior honors through her undergraduate college.

Carmichael earned Academic All-Big 12 first team honors three times and was named a Dr. Gerald Lage Award winner, the highest academic honor the Big 12 gives. She received the 1A FAR Academic Excellence award in 2016. She received the Outstanding Senior Woman Award from the College of Engineering and was named to the PE-ET Top 10 Seniors, given to the top 10 seniors on the basis of service, scholarship and leadership. With that award, she became the first OU student-athlete to be selected as an Outstanding Freshman, Sophomore, Junior and PE-ET Top Ten Senior.

She was a finalist for the 2017 NCAA Byers' Scholarship and was a 10-time honoree on the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll. She was named to the President's Honor Roll (4.00 GPA) three times and to the Dean's Honor Roll (3.50-3.99) five times as an undergraduate.

She received the inaugural OU Sooner Choice FAR Award, given to the student-athlete who best exemplifies exceptional character, true sportsmanship and strong perseverance; the Sooner Oath Award, given to one male and one female student athlete who best demonstrate the leadership, sportsmanship, strong moral character, and Sooner pride found within the Sooner Oath and was a two-time recipient of the University of Oklahoma Athletics Council Service Award. She served with Sooners for Haiti and, through that program, has sponsored five children in Haiti. Through Compassion International, she has sponsored a child from Peru.

Her leadership activities included president of the OU SAAC in 2015-2016, secretary for OU SAAC in 2014-2015, vice president for OU SAAC in 2013-2014 and track and field liaison for OU SAAC in 2012-2013.

She began working in Baton Rouge as an engineer in July. “My journey through athletics changed my life, and I couldn't imagine what I would do without it. Yet, a month in, I have never been happier as I've discovered every new chapter of life has something incredible to behold,” Carmichael added.

“I am currently working as an engineer and getting to solve complex problems while learning from the smartest people I have ever met. I have learned that athletics is never far away as I've translated so many skills to the workplace - most notably the importance of living to serve others.”

The NCAA Woman of the Year program has recognized graduating female student-athletes for excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership since its inception in 1991.

Initially, winners were named to represent each state and they were considered for the single national award. Former OU basketball player Phylesha Whaley was one of 10 finalists in 2000, advancing as a state winner. Other state of Oklahoma winners from OU include Jessica Frey, gymnastics, 1991; Tina Gamboa, gymnastics, 1992; Kay Gooch, track, 1994; Jenny Bramer, track and field, 1997; Janel Hayes, track, 2001, and Stacey Dales, basketball, 2002.

In 2006, the conferences began selecting the nominees from the schools as the system stands today. Sooner gymnast Brittney Koncak-Schumann, a Big 12 selection, was a national finalist in 2007.

Conversation with Carmichael

1) What was the first thing that you thought of when you were told you were one of the Big 12's nominees for this award?

After receiving the news that I was one of the Big 12's nominees for this award, I was truly speechless. Thinking about all the women that I look up to on my team, throughout the University of Oklahoma, within the Big 12, and in the NCAA, I was so humbled. The truth is my teammates have achieved far greater success than I have on the track, they've invested more of themselves into the community, they've accomplished more in the classroom, and I gain so much strength from them. To be considered for this award representing all of us, our team, and what we've accomplished- what we've contributed to society- it is the greatest honor.

(2) What does it mean to you to be a Big 12 nominee for this award?

Being a Big 12 nominee for this award is hard to put into words. I think about my 14-year-old self and what she would have thought about this moment - not the accolade of the award itself, but the realization of everything that has brought me to this point. There have been so many people who have enriched my life in countless ways - each of whom is a part of this. It is surreal. It truly makes me grateful for athletics and the role it has held in my life. My younger self would be so proud in this moment; not for my success, but for the way I've grown through it all. All I want is to give the rest of my life to ensure I empower others to grow in the same way athletics has done for me.

(3) What's the message that it sends when you started your career as a walk-on and you end it as a conference nominee for NCAA Woman of the Year?

The true message in my journey from a walk-on to an NCAA Woman of the Year conference nominee is that the future is wide open for those who relentlessly pursue their dreams. I never would have believed this was possible during my first days as a Sooner Student Athlete, and I want others to have the courage to follow wild, passionate dreams. I want people to know that my journey has not been perfect, and I did not get here by setting out for success. I stumbled, I failed, I fell short so often, but I had the people around me to pick me back up and keep fighting for me every step of the way.

So often in our world today we shy away from our audacious dreams, innovative ideas, and deepest longings because we're afraid of what might happen if we fail. I felt the same way, too, backing down from incredible opportunities out of fear that I wouldn't be enough. But slowly throughout my journey in athletics, I learned that playing it safe would not satisfy my longing to make a difference in the world. Dreaming too small was far worse than taking the leap to land just shy of my goals. At the core of who I am, my heart longs to beat for a cause- wildly, recklessly, without concern for adversaries or failure. Thus, I must unleash my dreams as an unquenchable current extinguishing fear. Oh, how we could shift the tide of this life if only we had the courage to begin.

(4) Anyone you would like to thank?

More than anything, I have to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He has woven my story together with unending grace for all the times I have fallen short and an unconditional love that has seen me through this journey. It is truly his power and his power alone that has allowed me to take the path that I have, and I hope every person hearing my story knows that it is possible for them, because it's Christ in me- not me- that has victory.

I also have to thank my parents. My Dad raised me to work diligently with the utmost zeal, and my Mom showed me what true compassion for the world looks like. She has the most genuine heart I know! My parents instilled in me the values through which I've walked, and I cannot thank them enough for their love, support, and influence in this process. Similarly, I want to thank my brothers who have stirred my competitive spirit by epitomizing everything I wanted to become. They were my standard of excellence- my metric for what was possible in the world, and I could not have chosen a better, more integrity-guided example to emulate.

I want to thank every one of my coaches from my very first track coach who introduced me to the love of the sport, to my high school coaches that championed me and invested in me on so many levels. To my college coaches, I cannot thank them enough. I had the chance to be coached by two of the greatest throws coaches in the nation, and I owe so much of my success to them. To all the coaches on the track and field team, I learned something from each of them. To the administration, to my teachers, and to the University of Oklahoma community, thank you for preparing me to take risks and develop professionally as well as personally.

Lastly, to my teammates, you all are the reason I found joy in competing and the daily grind. In each of you I found the courage to dream and the safety to fail. Thank you for inspiring me by your examples and all the different life experiences you brought to our track family. Thank you for helping me understand the world a little better, allowing me to see life from your perspective. To my friends: the friends who walked with me through the hardest times, the ones who encouraged me to keep pressing on, the friends who saw more in me than I saw in myself, the friends who challenged me intellectually, relationally and emotionally ... To my mighty friends, my greatest supports, my dearest companions, thank you.

(5) What are you doing these days and what is in thefuture for you?

Believe it or not, I did not want my career at the University of Oklahoma to come to an end. My journey through athletics changed my life, and I couldn't imagine what I would do without it. Yet, a month in, I have never been happier as I've discovered every new chapter of life has something incredible to behold. I am currently working as an engineer and getting to solve complex problems while learning from the smartest people I have ever met. I have learned that athletics is never far away as I've translated so many skills to the workplace- most notably the importance of living to serve others. As for the future, I am excited to invest myself in business in order to change the opportunities for women around the world. I know my journey has been a gift, and I want to do everything in my power to give back. Lastly, I have had the chance to coach athletes at my high school this summer, which has been the most rewarding experience of all. Wherever life takes me, I know athletics will always be a part.

(6) You have had some fairly amazing things happen to you while you pursued your career at OU. How does this honor rank with those others – Homecoming Court, Outstanding Woman on Campus, etc.?

This honor is really special because it has so much to do with my team. I think about the women alongside whom I've trained and done life with these past five years. They have the biggest hearts for so many different causes, peoples, and pursuits. I think of my teammate who led our service at an elementary school, I want to serve like her. I think of my teammate who fervently studied Spanish and medicine in order to serve the populations of Costa Rica; I want to empower like her. I think of my teammate who faced injury with the deepest resolve ultimately fighting to compete at the national level; I want to persevere like her. I think of my teammate who wrote me a letter of encouragement before my final championships; I want to be intentional like her. I think of my teammate who battled back from injury with the most positive outlook on life imaginable- who remains steady in every situation. I want to be grounded like her. I think of my teammate who transformed from a jumper to sprinter and worked with everything in her to make the team better, motivating us all by how deeply she invested herself and how courageously she worked. I want to inspire like her. Ultimately, this honor is special because it is about every woman who has touched my life and left me better through this incredible team I call family.

(7) Any final thoughts?

The last thing I will leave is this. I want everyone to know that we have one wild and precious life from which we can impact the world. It is all about the journey you walk, the legacy you leave and the lives you change. Your life is too precious and too valuable to sit back fearing failure. Live in relentless pursuit of your passion! Abandon the shore and dare to dive in the deep. Those who succeed do not do so by perfection but by persistence. In every situation, release your full potential because you, too, can change the world.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Conversation with Carmichael

Related News

Related Videos

Sponsors