KNOXVILLE — Diane Slinden, who throws discus for the Lady Vols track team, has been named National Collegiate Athletic Association Woman of the Year in Tennessee.
Slinden, a native of Menomonie, Wis., is one of 50 state honorees eligible for the national award to be presented Nov. 2 in Indianapolis.
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Diane Slinden, Tennessee NCAA Woman of the Year
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The award honors outstanding female student-athletes who excel in academics, athletics and community leadership.
“Diane has been a marvelous example of what we want Lady Vols to stand for,” UT Women-s Athletics Director Joan Cronan said. “This certainly adds to her legacy of not only being an All-America-caliber athlete and student but also serving as an excellent representative of UT.-
Slinden, UT’s 2002 Student Volunteer of the Year, is involved in more than a dozen community outreach projects and is on the Southeastern Conference Good Works Team.
A senior in biochemistry and cellular and molecular biology, she made the Lady Vol Academic Honor Roll four times and the SEC Academic Honor Roll three times. She minors in secondary education and is set to graduate in May 2003.
A track and field captain and vice president of UT’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee in 2001-02,Slinden was a four-time NCAA Outdoor Championships qualifier in the discus and an All-American as a junior.
She won the 2002 SEC discus title with a throw of 180 feet 1 inch, a record for Mississippi State-s Carl Maddox Track. She qualified four times for USA summer national meets, including the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials.
She ranks third all-time among UT discus throwers, holds the UT record for the weight throw and is second at UT in the hammer throw.
For more information, go to the Lady Vols Track and Field website.