America East Release

BURLINGTON, Vt. - University of Vermont women’s lacrosse standout Kristen Millar (Whitby, Ontario) was named the 2009 America East Woman of the Year and will be forwarded to the NCAA to be considered for the national award. The honor recognizes the conference’s senior female student-athlete who has best distinguished herself throughout her collegiate career in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership.

The NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee will select the top 10 winners in each NCAA division (I, II and III). From among those 30 honorees, the selection committee will determine the top three in each division. Finally, the members of the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics (CWA) will vote from among the top nine to determine the 2009 NCAA Woman of the Year. As the conference runner-up, University at Albany’s Ashley Ross, a member of the field hockey and lacrosse teams, will also be submitted to the committee.

“I am incredibly proud of the quality of nominees we received this year, and couldn’t be more ecstatic for this year’s America East Woman of the Year,” said America East Conference Commissioner Patrick Nero. “Kristen is a model student-athlete in every facet, and we wish her the best of luck in life beyond the University of Vermont and the America East Conference.”

Millar was a four-time team MVP as a midfielder for the women's lacrosse team and a team captain since 2007. She is the all-time leader at Vermont in goals, assists, points, draw controls and caused turnovers. She also closed out her career as the NCAA all-time leader for career draw controls at the Division I level.

Millar was named UVM’s top female senior athlete, earning the J. Edward Donnelly Award at the 2009 Rally Awards, the department’s end of year banquet. Millar is a two-time America East All-Championship Team member, two-time WomensLacrosse.com All-American and four-time IWLCA Regional All-American. In her senior campaign, Millar was a unanimous selection to the America East First Team and All-Academic Team. She’s played at multiple levels for the Canadian National Team, including the 2007 U19 National Team where she earned World Cup All-World Team accolades.

She led UVM to back-to-back appearances in the America East Women's Lacrosse Championship for the second time in school history. Last season the Catamounts finished as the regular season runner-up and posted a school-record five conference victories. In 2009, UVM went 9-8, posting its first winning season since 1994 and tying the school record for wins in a single season.

For the second straight year, Millar was named to the ESPN The Magazine, CoSIDA All-District At-Large Team with a 3.64 GPA in elementary education. The Dean’s List student earned a spot on the America East Academic Honor Roll as a freshman and on the Commissioner’s Honor Roll, for a GPA of 3.5 or higher, as a sophomore and junior. In 2008, Millar was also named to the IWLCA Academic Honor Roll.

Off the field and out of the classroom, Millar has spent much time serving as the SAAC Committee Outreach Leader and being active in her community. She volunteered with the Vermont Special Olympics as a Team Leader and taught youngsters the importance of fitness as a representative of the Get 60 program. Millar was also a camp counselor for the UVM Adventure Day Camp, a 40-hour per week commitment for eight weeks out of the year.

At UVM's commencement ceremony, Millar was honored with the Class of 1967 Award, presented by the University to seniors who best exhibit leadership, academic competence and character, and who have earned the respect of faculty and fellow students.

Millar is the first Vermont student-athlete to win the conference award since its inception in 2006. She was selected for the honor from a pool of the 11 America East institutional nominations. To be nominated, student-athletes must have completed intercollegiate eligibility in her primary sport by the end of the 2009 spring season, received her undergraduate degree prior to the conclusion of the summer 2009 term and had a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 2.500 (4.000 scale).

In conjunction with the changes in the nomination process for the NCAA Woman of the Year award, the America East Woman of the Year award was established for the 2005-06 athletic season. Beginning in 2006, the CWA started receiving conference-designated nominees in lieu of the previous institution- and state-based nomination format.