Sydney Maluenda, a sophomore from George Fox University, was named the golf nominee for the Class of 2015 Division III Honda Athlete of the Year as announced by Executive Director Chris Voelz of THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA) presented by Honda.

She is now designated one of 11 finalists for the prestigious DIII Honda Athlete of the Year honor. This will be voted on at the end of the academic year by national balloting among 1,000 NCAA member schools as part of THE CWSA program, now in its 39th year.

Maluenda, a sophomore from Ewa Beach, Hawaii, leads the country with the best stroke average at 74.37. She is a two-time member of the WGCA Div. III First Team All-American and All-West Region teams and has won five tournaments this season with eight Top 5 finishes.

Last year, Maluenda was named NCAA Div. III Women's Golf Rookie of the Year and posted 10 Top 5 finishes. In her two years as a Bruin, she has combined to win 10 tournaments and has claimed the honor of Northwest Conference Golfer of the Year twice.

“This is a huge honor to be nominated for the DIII Woman Athlete of the Year,” said Maluenda. “The support system that we have at George Fox is amazing. All year our goal as a team was to take it one round at a time, and to play for each other and our community. We have a great opportunity to learn more about the game at George Fox and I’m blessed to be a Bruin.”

All sports nominees from DIII and DII become a finalist for the prestigious 2015 Honda Collegiate Athlete of the Year in their respective divisions, presented in June. The sports nominees are recognized in 11 DIII and DII NCAA-sanctioned sports; cross country, basketball, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, volleyball, and track & field.

THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards has honored the nation’s top NCAA women athletes for 39 years, recognizing superior athletic skills, leadership, academic excellence and eagerness to participate in community service.   Since commencing its sponsorship in 1986, Honda has provided more than $3.0 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees to support women’s athletics programs at the institutions.