Gwen Maly Named Mountain West Female Student-Athlete of the Year
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Gwen Maly, who helped UNM to a 2021 Mountain West championship and a run to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, has been named the 2020-21 Mountain West Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She becomes the eighth Lobo to ever earn the honor and the fourth woman. She also is the first women’s soccer player in the history of the Mountain West to ever be named Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
The MW Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award, which was established in 1999 by the Mountain West Joint Council, is the highest honor presented to a student-athlete by the league. The award is given annually to one male and one female who best exemplify the term ‘student-athlete’ by achieving excellence in academics, athletics and community involvement throughout their intercollegiate career.
Recipients of the award must have a minimum 3.5 cumulative grade point average, demonstrate leadership, and exhibit quality character and conduct on and off the playing field, combined with athletic excellence. Maly will receive a $2,500 postgraduate scholarship.
WATCH: @JKurtz_MWN reveals the 2020-21 MW Scholar-Athletes of the Year!
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— Mountain West (@MountainWest) August 3, 2021
Maly, who is currently enrolled in UNM’s Medical School, led the Lobos and the Mountain West in scoring in 2021, and was a four-year letterwinner, playing in 73 career games, scoring 26 career goals and five assists for 57 points. Maly finished her career fourth on the all-time scoring list with those 26 goals, and she finished third in career scoring with her 57 points.
Gwen was named First Team All-Mountain West and First Team All-Region, and she was named to First Team CoSIDA Academic All-District. Overall she earned All-Mountain West honors three times and she is a four-time Mountain West All-Academic selection and a four-time Mountain West Scholar-Athlete.
Maly was involved with the Lobo Soccer Leadership Council, and she was involved in the Lobo Scholars Program. Gwen was named an LSP Fellow from 2017 to 2020. In this role, Gwen helped plan events and create a culture that aided her fellow student’s academic and intellectual growth. She participated in the establishment of an annual research symposium and she also presented her research at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research for 2019.
Her project there focused on the rehabilitation process for soccer players who have suffered ACL tears, an injury she twice suffered from.
Maly is the first Lobo to be named MW Scholar-Athlete since Olympian Courtney Frerichs in 2015-16. Overall, she is the fourth female to earn the honor as a member of the Lobos, joining Kelly Williamson of volleyball (2011-12) and Maja Kovacek of women’s Tennis (2005-06).
UNM’s male MW Student-Athletes of the Year were Sam Iftikhar of tennis (2014-15), Lars Loseth of soccer and skiing (2006-07), Sean Murray of baseball (2003-04) and Matthieu Amgwerd of tennis (1999-00).