CLEVELAND — Rachel Bender, a Baldwin Wallace University standout soccer player, was named the winner of the Female Collegiate Athlete of the Year Award at the Greater Cleveland Sports Awards ceremony.
Bender was presented with the honor at the 19th Greater Cleveland Sports Awards dinner at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel Grand Ballroom Wednesday night.
During the 2018 season, Bender, a graduate of Jackson High School in Massillon, registered 14 goals, including three game-winning tallies, and 16 assists in 19 appearances for the Yellow Jackets.
Bender earned 2018 United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division III All-American status and was named First-Team All-Great Lakes Region. Also, Bender was the Ohio Athletic Conference Forward of the Year, a four-time first-team All-OAC performer, the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) Academic All-District 7 first team, the OAC Women’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week in October and the OAC All-Tournament Team.
Bender won the Female Collegiate Athlete of the Year Award over Cleveland State University cross-country runner Anna Brandt and Kent State University volleyball standout Erin Gardner.
Brandt was a two-time first-team All-Horizon League selection and the top finisher in each of the five races she ran during the 2018 season. A Rocky River native, Brandt set Vikings records for the 5K and 6K races and was third in the Horizon League Championship.
Gardner set Kent State’s freshman record with 562 digs, which was the fifth-best showing in school history. Gardner had double-digit digs in all 16 Mid-American Conference games during the 2018 season and set a career high with 34 against the regular season co-champion, Bowling Green.
The Female Collegiate Athlete of the Year Award is presented annually to the athlete who best distinguishes the characteristics of athletic prowess and is in good academic standing at her respective school.
