ATHENS – Student-athletes Caterina Don and Caitlin Lyons have been named as the institutional nominees for the 2024 NCAA Woman of the Year Award on behalf of the Southeastern Conference, it was announced Tuesday.
Don, a former Bulldog on the women’s golf team, and Lyons, a five-year member of the equestrian team, will represent the SEC in the Division I pool of candidates.
Don was named Honorable Mention All-America by the Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) and Golfweek during her fifth and final season with the Bulldogs. She finished the 2023-24 season ranked No. 31 in the NCAA’s individual rankings and led Georgia in average, par-or-better rounds, birdies, low-54, top-20s, and counting percentage. Don was the Bulldogs’ top finisher at 10 of 13 tournaments last season, compiling three runner-up finishes, seven top-10 results, and finishing in the top-20 11 times. A three-time All-SEC Second Team honoree, Don was a bronze medalist at the 2022 University World Golf Championship. She graduated from Georgia with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics with minors in statistics and global health.
Don served as Vice President of UGA’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and led the organization’s efforts to recruit student-athletes to engage in fundraising and advocacy initiatives associated with the American Cancer Society’s “Relay for Life.” She was Georgia’s female nominee for the 2023-24 H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete of the Year and a member of the 2023 SEC Women’s Golf Community Service Team. In 2023, she was one of 10 college student-athletes honored as a “Peach of an Athlete” by the Atlanta Area Boy Scouts, distinguishing herself by her character, scholastic achievement, academic excellence, and community service. Don was a five-time member of the WCGA All-American Scholar Team and Spring SEC Academic Honor Roll. She received the 2022 Joel Eaves Award as UGA’s female senior student-athlete with the highest GPA while also earning the 2021-22 Ramsey Scholarship for Academic Excellence, given to the top-10 Georgia student-athletes with the highest GPA.
Lyons, the 2022 SEC Reining Rider of the Year, earned a spot on the 2022 All-SEC Reining Team and the 2022 National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA) All-American Reining Second Team. During her sophomore season, she was a part of the Georgia squad that captured the 2021 NCEA National Championship, the Bulldogs’ seventh overall title. She earned her bachelor’s degrees in both ecology and French and is currently enrolled in the Master of Natural Resources program.
During her graduate season, Lyons was Georgia’s female nominee for the 2023-24 Brad Davis SEC Community Service Leader of the Year. She was also a recipient of the 2021-22 Ramsey Scholarship for Academic Excellence. The 2024 SEC Equestrian Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Lyons earned one of the Fall 2023-24 women’s recipients of an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. She served as the equestrian representative for the UGA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and was inducted into the Student-Athlete Leadership Academy in 2020. Lyons was a four-time member of the Spring SEC Academic Honor Roll and a three-time member of the NCEA All-Academic First Team. She was also a three-time recipient of the University of Georgia Presidential Scholar Honors and was named to the J. Reid Parker Director of Athletics Honor Roll every semester.
The NCAA Woman of the Year program was established in 1991 and honors the academic achievements, athletics excellence, community service and leadership of graduating female college athletes from all three divisions. To be eligible, a nominee must have competed and earned a varsity letter in an NCAA-sponsored sport and must have earned her undergraduate degree by summer 2024.
The Woman of the Year Selection Committee will select 10 student-athletes from each division, which will determine the Top 30 honorees. Of the Top 30, the Woman of the Year Selection Committee will announce nine finalists, with three from each NCAA division. From the nine finalists, the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics then selects the NCAA Woman of the Year, who is named during an awards presentation at the NCAA Convention.
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