Centenary's Viviana Rivero Named 2025 SCAC Woman of the Year Finalist

SUWANEE, Ga. -- The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference today announced the six finalists for the 2025 SCAC Woman of the Year award. The award recognizes the conference's senior female student-athlete who has best distinguished herself throughout her collegiate career in the areas of academic achievement, athletic excellence and service and leadership. Past Winners

Member schools were permitted to submit two nominations if at least one of the nominees was a woman of color or international student-athlete.

This year's finalists include: Kenedie Lane of Austin College, Viviana Rivero of Centenary College, Healy Bledsoe of Colorado College, Arden Neff of Southwestern University, Linzee Leal of Texas Lutheran University and Michaela Bosco of Trinity University.

To be nominated, student-athletes must have completed intercollegiate eligibility in her primary sport by the end of the 2025 spring season, received her undergraduate degree prior to the conclusion of the summer 2025 term and had a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 2.500 (4.000 scale) with the noted exception due to COVID-19 pandemic. A student-athlete who received an extension waiver or a season of competition/participation waiver in her primary sport due to cancellation of a 2020 and/or 2021 athletics season or championship may be nominated for the 2025 Woman of the Year, provided she otherwise satisfies nomination criteria.

The 2025 Southern Collegiate Athletic Woman of the Year will be announced later this month.

Scroll below to read a quick bio on each of the six finalists:

     
Kenedie Lane, Austin College
Women's Soccer

• Molecular/Cellular Biology major and a Spanish minor with a 3.94 GPA 
• Four-Time SCAC Academic Honor Roll Honoree (2021-24)
• Austin College Dean's List (2021-24)
• Three-Time College Sports Communicators Academic All-District (2022, 2023, 2024)
• Peggy Redshaw and Jerry Lincecum Endowed Scholarship Recipient for an Outstanding Student in Biology (2024)
• The Charles "Bo" Miller Senior Academic Excellence Award (2025)
• Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society (2025)
• Chi Alpha Sigma National Student-Athlete Honor Society (2025)
• Alpha Chi Honor Society (2024)
• Beta Beta Beta Biological Honor Society (2024)
• Sigma Delta Pi National Collegiate Spanish Honor Society (2024)
• Team Captain (2024)
• Two-Time Second Team All-SCAC (2023, 2024)
• Honorable Mention All-SCAC (2022)
• Three-Time SCAC Defensive Player of the Week (2023, 2024)
• Led the SCAC in Saves in 2022
• Gene Day Award for Most Outstanding Female Student Athlete (2025)
• The Carole Lomangino Most Valuable Soccer Player Award (2025)
• Three-Time Modern Woodmen Student-Athlete of the Week Award (2022, 2023, 2024)
• Texoma FC Gameday Volunteer (2025)
• Insider's Guide to College Presentation (2024)
• Frisco FastPacs (2024)
• RooBound Youth Soocer Camp (2024)
• Court Appointed Specia Advocates for Children (CASA) (2023)
• Student Athlete Advisory Committee (2023)
• Cell Biology Lab Teaching Assistant (2023)
• Scientific Leadership Course (STAR) (2023)
• Sherman Food Bank (2022)
• A Small Kindness (2022)
• First-Year Seminar Peer Mentor (2022)
• Sneed Prairie Restoration Project (2021)
• Feed the City (2021)
• Wreaths Across America (2021)

      
Viviana Rivero, Centneary College
Softball

• Double major in Psychology and Sociology with a 3.75 GPA  
• Four-Time SCAC Academic Honor Roll Honoree (2022-25)
• Centenary College Dean's List (2021-25)
• Two-Time Honorable Mention All-SCAC (2023, 2025)
• SCAC All-Sportsmanship Team (2022)
• Two-Time College Sports Communicators Academic All-District (2023, 2025)
• Two-Time Easton/NFCA Division III All-America Scholar Athlete (2023, 2024)
• 2022 SCAC All-Sportsmanship Team Honoree 
• Maroon Jackets (2024-25)
• Chi Alpha Omega Athletic Academic Honor Society (2024)
• PSI CHI - International Psychology Honor Society (2022-23)
• Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) President (2025)
• SAAC Vice President (2024)
• SAAC Representative (2022-23)
• Hispanic Student Association (2021-25)
• Women in STEM (2023-25)
• Special Olympics (2021-23)

      
Healy Bledsoe, Colorado College
Women's Basketball/Lacrosse

• Education major with a History minor with a 3.88 GPA
• Five-Time SCAC Academic Honor Roll Honoree (2022-25)
• Two-Time College Sports Communicators Academic All-District - Basketball (2024, 2025)
• Two-Time College Sports Communicators Academic All-District - Lacrosse (2023, 2024)
• Six-Time Colorado College Dean's List (2021-2025)
• Colorado College Laura Golden Award Winner - Top Female Student-Athlete (2025)
• WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll - Lacrosse (2024)
• SCAC Defensive Player of the Year (2024)
• Third Team All-SCAC (2024)
• Honorable Mention All-SCAC (2023)
• SCAC Blue Division Regular Season Champions (2025)
• Helped CC Women's Basketball Program reach NCAA Tournament for the 1st time since 1990
• USA Lacrosse Pre-Season All-American Honorable Mention (2025)
• IWLCA National Defensive Player of the Week (2024)
• Two-Time IWLCA First Team All-Region (2024, 2025)
• First Team All-WIAC (Lacrosse) (2025)
• Honorable Mention All-WIAC (2024)
• Two-Time WIAC Lacrosse Regular Season Champions (2024, 2025)
• Two-Time WIAC Lacrosse Tournament Champions (2024, 2025)
• Two-Time NCAA Tournament Participant - Lacrosse - (2024; Sweet 16, 2025)
• Team Impact (2021-25)
• Soaring Eagles and Centennial Elementary Volunteer (2021-25)
• TESSA - Domestic Violence Resource Center - (2023, 2024)

Arden Neff, Southwestern University
Women's Track & Field

• Mathematics major with a minor in Philosophy with a 3.98 GPA (Summa Cum Laude Graduate)
• Four-Time SCAC Academic Honor Roll Honoree (202-2025)
• 2025 SCAC Women's Track Elite 19 Award Recipient
• 2025 SCAC Track Athlete of the Year
• Eight-Time Southwestern Dean's List Honoree (2021-2025)
• First Team All-American Outdoor Track & Field - 7th in 400-Meter Hurdles (2025)
• Three-Time U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Region Honoree (2023, 2024, 2025)
• USTFCCCA All-Academic Athlete (2024)
• Four-Time SCAC Gold Medalist in 400-Meter Hurdles (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)
• SCAC Record Holder in 400-Meter Hurdles
• Southwestern Program Record Holder (Indoor/Outdoor 400M; I/O 4x400 Relay; 400M Hurdles; 60M Hurdles; 4x100 Relay)
• 2022 SCAC Gold Medlaist in 4x400-Meter Relay
• Southwestern Female Athlete of the Year (2025)
• Three-Time Team Captain (2023, 2024, 2025)
• Phi Beta Kappa (2025)
• Grogan Lord Award (2024)
• Upsilon Pi Epsilon - Computer Science Honor Society (2023)
• Pi Mu Epsilon - Mathematics (2023)
• Atkins Memorial Scholarship (2023)
• Alpha Chi Honor Society (2022)
• Computer Science Tutor (2024-25)
• QSide Datathon for Justice (2023)

Linzee Leal, Texas Lutheran University
Softball

• Kinesiology (Sports Management) Major with a minor in Business with a 3.76 GPA
• Four-Time SCAC Academic Honor Roll Honoree (2022-25)
• Three-Time College Sports Communicators Academic All-District (2023, 2024, 2025)
• Three-Time Easton/NFCA Division III All-America Scholar Athlete (2022, 2023, 2024)
• Two-Time First Team All-SCAC (2023, 2024)
• Honorable Mention All-SCAC (2025)
• National Fast Pitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Second Team All-West Region
• Two-Time SCAC Softball Tournament Champion (2022, 2024)
• Four-Time SCAC Regular Season Champion (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)
• Four-Time NCAA Tournament Participant (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)
• Softball College World Series (2025) 
• Rawlings Gold Glove Winner (2024) 
• Marshall, Texas Regional All-Tournament Team (2024)
• 2023 SCAC All-Tournament Team 
• Tied 5th in SCAC History with 115 Career Stolen Bases
• SCAC Hitter of the Week (2022)
• National Society of Leadership and Sucess (2022-2025)
• Student Advisory Committee Representative (2023-25)
• Athletes in Action (2023-25)
• Kinesiology Club - Secretary/Treasurer (2023-25)
• TLU Admissions Ambassador (2023-25)
• Spirit of the Bulldog Student Engagement Award (2025)
• Speaking Leader at Groundbreaking Event for the Verne Lundquist Athletic Facility (2025)
• Nominee for the David & Anna Teggeman Stock TLU Student of the Year Award (2025)

Michaela Bosco, Trinity University
Women's Soccer 

• Double Major in Studio Art and Communication with a 3.98 GPA
• Four-Time SCAC Academic Honor Roll Honoree (2021-24)
• Three-time Trinity University Dean's List Honoree (Fall - 2023; Spring 2023; Spring 2024)
• College Sports Communicators (CSC) Third Team Academic All-American (2024)
• CSC First Team Academic All-American (2022)
• Three-Time CSC Academic All-District (2023, 2023, 2024)
• United Soccer Coaches (USC) Second Team Scholar All-American (2024)
• Two-Time USC Scholar All-Region Honoree (2023, 2024)
• USC Fourth Team All-American (2024)
• Two-Time USC First Team All-Region (2022, 2024)
• USC Third Team All-Region (2023)
• 2023 SCAC Elite 19 Award Winner 
• Three-Time First Team All-SCAC (2022, 2023, 2024)
• 2021 SCAC All-Freshman Team
• Four-Time SCAC Regular Season Champion (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)
• Four-Time SCAC Tournament Champion (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)  
• Three-Time SCAC All-Tournament Team Selection (2022, 2023, 2024)
• Two-Time SCAC Tournament Offensive MVP (2022, 2024) 
• Three-Time SCAC Offensive Player of the Week
• Four-Time NCAA Tournament Participant - NCAA Quarterfinalist 2024 - (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)
• Special Olympics (2023-2025)
• The Hidden Opponent: Student-Athlete Mental Health Organization (2023-24)
• Morgan's Wonderland - San Antonio Adaptive Sports (2021-24)
• Greet Card Hospice Patient Program (2022-24)