LOWELL, Mass.  –  UMass Lowell senior sprinter Taelour Murphy (Salisbury, Mass.) is one of the nominees for the NCAA's Woman of the Year award.

Now in its 25th year, the Woman of the Year award honors graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in academics, athletics, service and leadership.

The NCAA unveiled the nominees today; the top 30 will be announced in late August or early September and the winner will be honored at a dinner, October 18, in Indianapolis.  NCAA member colleges and universities have nominated 480 female student-athletes – the most ever in the history of the program – for the 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year award. 

Of the nominees, 207 competed in Division I, 93 competed in Division II and 180 competed in Division III athletics.  The NCAA encourages member schools to honor its top graduating female student-athletes each year by submitting their names for consideration for the Woman of the Year award.  Then, conferences assess each nominee's eligibility and select up to two conference nominees. All conference nominees are forwarded to the Woman of the Year selection committee, which chooses the top 30 honorees – 10 from each division. 

"She is highly deserving of recognition," said UMass Lowell Track and Field Head Coach Gary Gardner.  "She is a leader on an off the track and has been a key figure as we have gone through the transition to Division I.  She has contributed so much to the program and to the school."

Murphy, one of the track and field captains, has rewritten the UMass Lowell sprint record book. Her name appears seven times with four individual records and three as part of a relay team.  She earned All-ECAC and All-America East honors on repeated occasions.

UMass Lowell honored Murphy with the Lester H. Cushing Award as UMass Lowell's top female athlete at its annual awards banquet.  It was the second consecutive year she was so honored.  She was also one of the three finalists for the America East Woman of the Year award.

Away from the track, Murphy has been busy.  She is the Student Representative on the NCAA IPP committee and serves in various other capacities including as a tutor for the Student-Athlete Academic Center, as a peer mentor for Developmental Instruction.  She is a member of the UMass Lowell Choosing Personal Leadership Program.

She is also a member of Who's Who Among American Colleges and Universities and was inducted into Phi Alpha Theta honor society.  Murphy also was a National Student-Athlete Day Honoree in 2014-15.