Photo by: Big Ten Conference/Chris Mitchell/Eric Miller
Huang Nominated for 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year Award
Jul 14 | Women's Gymnastics
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers gymnastics senior Belle Huang has been nominated for the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year Award. Huang, an AAI Award Nominee and Big Ten Sportsmanship recipient, guided the Scarlet Knights in competition and in the classroom this season.
Rooted in Title IX and directed by the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics, the NCAA Woman of the Year program celebrates the accomplishments of female college athletes across all three NCAA divisions. Over 220,000 women are competing in college sports, and the NCAA received 535 nominations for this prestigious award.
Huang adds the recognition to a growing list of accolades, including being named a 2021 American Athletic, Inc. (AAI) Award Nominee. The AAI Award is presented to the most outstanding collegiate senior female gymnast in the country, widely considered the Heisman Trophy of women's gymnastics.
The Gaithersburg, Maryland, native has competed in 50 meets as a Scarlet Knight. As an all-arounder for RU, she has eclipsed a career best of 39.350 in the event. The team captain owns personal-best marks of 9.925 on beam and floor, both of which rank among the top three highest scores of Rutgers individual event records.
Huang, a 2021 First Team All-Big Ten and All-Championship Team honoree, qualified for her third NCAA Regional. The senior first punched her ticket as an all-arounder in 2018 and on floor in 2019. At the 2021 Big Ten Championships, Huang placed third on beam and fourth in all-around, recording a 9.9 on beam and a career-high 39.350 in the all-around. She finished first on floor and beam in RU's Session I win at the Championships, while finishing second in all-around in the session and being named to the All-Championship team.
A two-time All-Big Ten selection and three-time NCAA qualifier, Huang also excels as a biological sciences major, earning three WCGA Scholastic All-America, three Academic All-Big Ten, and three Big Ten Distinguished Scholar accolades. She was inducted into Chi Alpha Sigma, the national the National College Athlete Honor Society, in fall of 2020.
Outside of her career as a Division I gymnast, Huang began a career in judging youth gymnastics meets. As of January 2020, Huang is qualified to judge level 10 gymnastics, having earned the qualification in summer of 2020.
Conference offices will select their nominees for NCAA Woman of the Year. Each conference nominee will be notified by the NCAA, and all conference-round nominees will be announced on ncaa.org in August. Conference nominations are forwarded to the NCAA Woman of the Year Selection Committee, which identifies the top 10 honorees in each of the three NCAA divisions. From those 30 honorees, the selection committee then determines the three finalists in each division for a total of nine finalists.
The Committee on Women's Athletics will select the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year from the nine finalists. At an award ceremony Oct. 17 in Indianapolis, the Top 30 honorees will be celebrated, and the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year will be named. You can learn more about the award program, next steps and previous winners by visiting ncaa.org/woty.
Follow Rutgers gymnastics on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Download the Scarlet Knights App for Apple or Android today.
Rooted in Title IX and directed by the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics, the NCAA Woman of the Year program celebrates the accomplishments of female college athletes across all three NCAA divisions. Over 220,000 women are competing in college sports, and the NCAA received 535 nominations for this prestigious award.
Huang adds the recognition to a growing list of accolades, including being named a 2021 American Athletic, Inc. (AAI) Award Nominee. The AAI Award is presented to the most outstanding collegiate senior female gymnast in the country, widely considered the Heisman Trophy of women's gymnastics.
The Gaithersburg, Maryland, native has competed in 50 meets as a Scarlet Knight. As an all-arounder for RU, she has eclipsed a career best of 39.350 in the event. The team captain owns personal-best marks of 9.925 on beam and floor, both of which rank among the top three highest scores of Rutgers individual event records.
Huang, a 2021 First Team All-Big Ten and All-Championship Team honoree, qualified for her third NCAA Regional. The senior first punched her ticket as an all-arounder in 2018 and on floor in 2019. At the 2021 Big Ten Championships, Huang placed third on beam and fourth in all-around, recording a 9.9 on beam and a career-high 39.350 in the all-around. She finished first on floor and beam in RU's Session I win at the Championships, while finishing second in all-around in the session and being named to the All-Championship team.
A two-time All-Big Ten selection and three-time NCAA qualifier, Huang also excels as a biological sciences major, earning three WCGA Scholastic All-America, three Academic All-Big Ten, and three Big Ten Distinguished Scholar accolades. She was inducted into Chi Alpha Sigma, the national the National College Athlete Honor Society, in fall of 2020.
Outside of her career as a Division I gymnast, Huang began a career in judging youth gymnastics meets. As of January 2020, Huang is qualified to judge level 10 gymnastics, having earned the qualification in summer of 2020.
Conference offices will select their nominees for NCAA Woman of the Year. Each conference nominee will be notified by the NCAA, and all conference-round nominees will be announced on ncaa.org in August. Conference nominations are forwarded to the NCAA Woman of the Year Selection Committee, which identifies the top 10 honorees in each of the three NCAA divisions. From those 30 honorees, the selection committee then determines the three finalists in each division for a total of nine finalists.
The Committee on Women's Athletics will select the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year from the nine finalists. At an award ceremony Oct. 17 in Indianapolis, the Top 30 honorees will be celebrated, and the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year will be named. You can learn more about the award program, next steps and previous winners by visiting ncaa.org/woty.
Follow Rutgers gymnastics on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Download the Scarlet Knights App for Apple or Android today.
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