Judge was a four-year starter on the lacrosse team and a four-time All-Conference
honoree -- one of just six players in league history with this distinction. She helped the Eagles win two Big South titles during her time in Rock Hill. 
ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA Winthrop University's Katherine Judge, along with UNC Asheville's Kayli Nichols, was named the Big South Conference's Woman of the Year for 2017-18.
Judge was a four-year starter on the lacrosse team and a four-time All-Conference
honoree -- one of just six players in league history with this distinction. She helped
the Eagles win two Big South titles during her time in Rock Hill.
She ranks first all-time in conference annals with 421 draw controls and 247 ground
balls, and is third with 143 caused turnovers and 81 career matches played. Judge
was a standout on both the offensive and defensive sides of the field in 2018, as
she finished second on the team with 55 goals, a single-season high for the midfielder.
A member of the 2017 Big South Women's Lacrosse All-Academic Team, Judge compiled a 3.73 grade point average while majoring in social work with a minor
in family and consumer science. She will attend the University of Pennsylvania for
graduate school.
During her Winthrop career, Judge volunteered at local elementary schools, food banks,
Girls on the Run and the San Diego Children's Hospital, and participated in causes
such as the Light the Night Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Walk. She interned at the
Iswa Head Start Program where she worked with social workers at the agency to serve
children ages 3-5 and their families.
Judge was named the recipient of the inaugural Golden Eagle Award in 2018, which is awarded to an exemplary student-athlete leader, a teammate to always
count on who encourages others, and the type of student-athlete who represents all
good things about Winthrop Athletics.
The Big South's Woman of the Year Selection Committee voted Judge and Nichols the co-honorees among the nine candidates nominated for the
award. The committee used criteria of Service and Leadership (including community
services, campus activities and leadership positions), Academic Achievement, Athletics
Excellence and a Personal Statement from each candidate. As the Big South's Woman
of the Year, Judge and Nichols are nominated as the conference's candidates for the
national NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
Judge and Nichols are among 581 overall nominees for NCAA Woman of the Year, which
is now in its 28th year. The Big South had its first national finalist in 2005 when
Winthrop's Janiva Willis was named one of the 10 finalists.
This is the second year in a row that Winthrop has shared this award. Winthrop tennis
player Caitlin Cridland and Liberty University soccer player Holly Van Noord were selected as Big South Conference's
Woman of the Year for 2016-17.
For more information, contact Brittany Lane, Winthrop assistant athletic director for marketing and communications, at laneb@winthrop.edu.
