LATHAM, N.Y. - Penn State Harrisburg softball player Madelyn Lehigh has been selected as a conference nominee for the 2025 NCAA Woman of the Year Award.  


After being named the 2025 United East Female Senior Athlete of the Year, Lehigh was chosen as the conference's nominee for the prestigious award. She will also represent the league as its women's nominee for the regional and national athlete of the year awards presented by the Division III Commissioners Association. She joins former Penn State Harrisburg standouts Kendis Butler (Top 30 Finalist) and Brittany Ebaugh (conference nominee) as the only NCAA Woman of the Year Award conference nominees in school history. 


Now in its 35th year, the NCAA Woman of the Year program was established in 1991 and honors the academic achievement, athletic excellence, community service and leadership of graduating female college athletes. By submitting nominations, institutions and conferences have the opportunity to recognize female student-athletes who best exemplify a commitment to these four areas. The Woman of the Year Selection Committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will choose the Top 30 honorees — 10 from each division — from the conference-level nominees. The Top 30 honorees will be announced in the fall. The selection committee will then determine the top three honorees in each division from the Top 30, and the nine finalists will be announced later in the fall. From those nine finalists, the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will choose the 2025 NCAA Woman of the Year. The 30 honorees will be celebrated at the Woman of the Year Award Presentation at the annual NCAA Convention in Washington D.C. in January.


The most-decorated player in program history, Lehigh completed her illustrious career as the NCAA active leader in triples (31) across all three divisions. Earlier this spring, the senior became the first player in program history to reach the 200-hit mark before finishing her career ranked eighth among active Division III players in runs (175), ninth in hits (236) and 16th in total bases (358). In 2024, the shortstop won a pair of NCAA Statistical Championships in the categories of triples per game (.33) and triples (14), was named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Region IV Third Team and was tabbed the United East Player of the Year. In 2023, the Harrisburg, Pa. native secured NFCA All-Region Second Team honors following the most prolific offensive season in program history after being named the 2022 United East Rookie of the Year thanks to a breakout freshman campaign. A four-time United East All-Conference honoree that included three first-team plaudits, Lehigh ended her career slashing an outstanding .468/.534/.710 with a 1.244 OPS and finished as the program's all-time leader in batting average, on-base percentage, OPS, slugging percentage, hits, runs, RBIs (125), walks (71) and triples.


Lehigh has also been strong in the classroom throughout her career. She is the first Penn State Harrisburg student-athlete to earn three College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District accolades thanks to her combination of athletic and academic prowess. She is a two-time Chi Alpha Sigma Honor Society inductee and she's garnered four straight conference all-academic awards. She also bolstered her academic experience with internships at nearby Focused Physical Development and RAK Baseball. The Human Development and Family Studies major recently graduated in May with a 3.70 cumulative GPA. For her efforts, Lehigh was named the United East Softball Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year in June.


Serving as Penn State Harrisburg's Student-Athlete Leadership Council Treasurer (SALC) during the 2024-25 campaign, Lehigh helped facilitate the school's canned food drive that collected items for the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank and Penn State Harrisburg's on-campus food pantry. She's also had a hand in Penn State Harrisburg's involvement with National Read Across America Day at Middletown Area elementary schools. Outside of campus, she's involved herself with local communities by volunteering with military families at the nearby Indiantown Gap National Cemetery as part of the Wreaths Across America program, working with students at Central Dauphin's annual Ready For School Fall Festival and serving as a student-athlete mentor with Polar Elite Softball. While starring at Bishop McDevitt High School, Lehigh was also named a Semper Fidelis All-American Finalist which would have allowed her to participate in an immersive Marine Corps experience, including a tour of the nation's capital and interaction with the nation's top civic, athletic and military leaders before the program was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 


Fans can keep up with Penn State Harrisburg Athletics all season long on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Youtube using the handle @pshbgathletics.