UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State women's soccer alumna Kerry Abello was announced as a Top 30 honoree for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year award by the selection committee on Thursday.
The NCAA Woman of the Year program honors senior student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their college careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership.
Originally one of 577 school nominees, Abello advanced into the 156 conference candidates when she was selected to represent the Big Ten Conference as its nominee based on her outstanding achievements during her collegiate career.
Now Abello has been honored as a Top 30 honoree, a pool which includes ten individuals from each of the three NCAA divisions.
"It's both a very humbling and proud feeling to stand alongside these incredible women as honorees for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year," Abello said. "My journey here certainly wouldn't have been possible without the endless support I received at Penn State. 'Thank you' will never be enough."
In fall 2021, Abello graduated from Penn State and the Schreyer Honors College with a perfect 4.0 grade point average and dual degrees in Biological Life Sciences and Spanish. She received the Penn State Evan Pugh Scholar Senior and Junior awards, given to those in the top 0.5% of their class.
As a student, she trained in the biomedical engineering lab and conducted her own experiments concerning cancer cell research.
She became the first PSU women's player to earn four Academic All-America honors and is the second in the PSU women's soccer program's history to earn three first-team Academic All-America accolades.
In 2021, Abello also became the third Nittany Lion named CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year in back-to-back years.
A five-year letterwinner and two-time captain for Penn State, Abello has been a member of two Big Ten Championship teams and two Big Ten Tournament Championship teams. In her career as a Nittany Lion, she appeared in 92 games with 70 starts while tallying 17 goals and 10 assists.
The Batavia, Ill. native is a three-time All-Big Ten honoree, and in 2020, she was the recipient of the Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship Award. She is also a three-time All-North Region honoree and took home first team designation in her final collegiate season.
Her time at Penn State also saw her receive the Big Ten Medal of Honor and Senior CLASS Award All-American honors.
Abello was also active on campus and the community serving as a member of the Student Athlete Advisory Board (SAAB) THON committee.
Following her successful academic and athletic career at Penn State, Abello now plays professionally for the National Women's Soccer League's, Orlando Pride. Following her retirement from soccer, Abello plans to attend medical school to become an orthopedic surgeon.
Next, the selection committee will choose three honorees from each NCAA division, for a total of nine finalists. From those finalists, the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will choose the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year.
For the first time in the award's history, the NCAA Woman of the Year will be named and the Top 30 will be celebrated at the NCAA Convention, which will be held in January in San Antonio.
