By David Salley
HSU Sports Information

ARKADELPHIA — Henderson State Athletics announced on Wednesday that senior golfer Allie Bianchi has been named the Reddies’ 2021-22 NCAA Woman of the Year nominee.

The NCAA Woman of the Year award, which began in 1991 and is now in its 32nd year, honors graduating female student-athletes who have stood out through their work in academics, athletics, service and leadership.

Bianchi, from Allen, Texas, has been a star on the course and in the classroom since her arrival at Henderson in 2019. A two-time All-GAC honoree and a 2021 All-Central Region selection, Bianchi’s time in Arkadelphia has been one of the most successful stretches for the program in school history. A key member of back-to-back GAC Championship teams in 2021 and 2022, Bianchi helped lead the Reddies to the program’s first-ever Central Region title this spring and has played in two NCAA DII National Championships — including one as an individual last season.

Academically, Bianchi has been a standout in the department as a two-time GAC Elite Scholar-Athlete, a 2021 CoSIDA Academic All-American, the 2021 GAC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and HSU’s 2022 Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She carried a perfect 4.0 GPA while pursuing her undergraduate degree in Finance and won multiple awards with Henderson’s School of Business. Additionally, Bianchi has served as a Business School peer leader at HSU and is a member of the Chi Alpha Sigma National Student-Athlete Honor Society. 

Nominees representing each conference will be selected in July. All conference-level nominees are forwarded to the Woman of the Year selection committee. The selection committee will choose the Top-10 honorees in each division. From among those 30 honorees, the selection committee will determine the three finalists in each division. Finally, the members of the Committee on Women’s Athletics will vote from among the top nine finalists to determine the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year.