Monmouth doubles its fun with Woman of Year semifinalist
By The NCAA News -
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Tanesha Hughes
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| Melissa Bittner |
The 2009 NCAA Woman of the Year will be revealed Sunday. But, some history
has already been made in the run up to the 19th annual awarding of the
prestigious honor.
Woman of the Year Top 30 nominee Tanesha Hughes, a three-sport
student-athlete representing the Midwest Conference and Monmouth (Illinois),
and Monmouth women’s basketball coach Melissa Jones Bittner are believed to
be the first student-athlete/coach tandem to earn places in the field of
Woman of the Year semifinalists.
Bittner, a Monmouth graduate, was the Illinois state winner and a top 10
finalist in 2003.
Hughes will be among the top 30 honorees who will be recognized at the
October 18 NCAA Woman of the Year awards dinner in Indianapolis, during
which the 2009 NCAA Woman of the Year also will be announced.
Honorees also will participate in the Woman of the Year Legacy Garden
program, which provides middle school female students the opportunity to
join the NCAA Woman of the Year honorees in a day of community service. The
community-service activity includes planting seasonal flowers, bulbs, trees
and shrubs, mulching, and watering the garden. The garden will be a
permanent addition in the White River State Park, where the NCAA national
office is located.
Hughes said when she heard she was being nominated for Woman of the Year
honors, she didn’t expect to advance far.
“There are a lot of great athletes out there and the NCAA is big,” she said.
“I didn’t think I would get this far, but I’m so happy I did.”
Bittner recalled receiving the call from an ecstatic Hughes announcing that
she had been chosen as a Top 30 honoree. “I get a phone call from Tanesha at
9:30 p.m. on a Saturday, and I was like what’s she calling for at this hour?
She was really pumped up,” she said. “It’s prestigious and players
definitely know what a great experience and opportunity it is.”
Reflecting back to her experience six years ago, Bittner said she enjoyed
meeting her fellow honorees and the chance to give back to the community by
putting on a sports clinic for youth in Indianapolis. She described the
weekend-long celebration as a great culmination to her collegiate athletics
career.
The Woman of the Year honor is just the most recent common ground Bittner
and Hughes have shared. Bittner inherited a team that was 6-17 the previous
year, and Hughes was among the first student-athletes the coach attracted to
the program and guided for four years.
Bittner, entering her fifth season as coach, credits that class of recruits
with helping to turn the program around. Hughes was a key ingredient in
Monmouth’s subsequent surge to success, helping the Scots register four
straight winning seasons.
In addition to leading the conference in scoring and rebounding as a senior,
Hughes was an all-conference selection in volleyball and as well as a
five-time conference champion and an all-America pick in track. The
computer-science major was a 10-time academic all-conference selection, was
named to the National Dean’s List and participated in more than 15 different
volunteer activities at Monmouth. She also was homecoming queen.
The respect coach and player have for one another flows easily both ways.
“Because she’s so close in age to us, she’s more than just a coach,” said
Hughes. “She knew how excited I was about being a nominee because she’s
already been in this position.”
Pointing to Hughes’ wide-ranging accomplishments, Bittner said the Woman of
the Year award does a good job of elevating the profile of female
student-athletes.
The purpose of the award, she said, is not only to highlight the best of the
best athletically but also to call attention to the importance of being
well-rounded individuals. “It’s a great way to get the word out that we’re
not just athletes but we can strive for high amounts of success in the
classroom, in the community and on the court as well.”
Bittner advised the newest group of award recipients to remember the little
things that have helped them achieve so much and to keep doing those same
things in the pursuit of future success.
For her part, Hughes, who graduated from Monmouth in May and currently works
as a software specialist for a technology company outside St. Louis, urged
current student-athletes to savor their collegiate careers.
“I’ve been a multisport athlete since the fifth grade and there’s nothing
like being on a team,” she said. “You have to enjoy it while you can because
those moments are priceless."