Former University of California, Davis, lacrosse student-athlete Kelly Albin has been selected as the 2004 NCAA Woman of the Year.

Albin received the honor, which recognizes academic and athletics excellence as well as community service and leadership, during the 14th annual Woman of the Year dinner October 31 in Indianapolis.

In accepting the award, Albin described the evening as the best moment in her life.

"I'd compare it to a lifetime achievement award. I'm getting rewarded for everything that's important to me. I've been recognized for my achievements in athletics and school and community service, but never in one award," she said. "It's overwhelming to be rewarded for what I do every single day of my life. It's humbling, especially considering the accomplishments of everyone else who was nominated."

Albin, who becomes the second lacrosse student-athlete to win the honor and the third winner from UC Davis, remembers fellow Aggie Tanisha Silas, a former track and field student-athlete, who earned Woman of the Year recognition three years ago, but said she never considered that she might be nominated and win the award herself. Jamila Demby, also a former Aggie track and field student-athlete, won the award in 1999.

"UC Davis, in general, is a very academically oriented school with highly achieving athletes," Albin said. "It's a good fit for this award, I guess."

Perhaps it is more accurate to say that Albin was a good fit for this award. She arrived at UC Davis expecting to play soccer, but she ended up training with the lacrosse squad.

"I didn't expect to stay with it. My love was soccer since I was 5 years old. It was definitely not a transition that I expected, but it's definitely my favorite sport now," she said.

In spite of being brand new to the sport, Albin, who also played basketball in high school, advanced quickly. A torn ACL interrupted what would have been her senior season in 2003, but Albin returned full-force the next season. By the time she completed her collegiate career, she had set numerous school records, including shots in a game, career assists, season assists, assists in a game and career ground balls. For the 2004 season, she was ranked 12th in Division II in assists per game and 19th in points per game, helping the Aggies to a No. 2 spot in the final Inside Lacrosse Division II power poll.

In the classroom, Albin's efforts were equally impressive. The NCAA postgraduate scholarship recipient graduated magna cum laude in March with a degree in food science and an emphasis in microbiology. She was named to the College Sports Information Directors of America and Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) academic all-America teams. In addition, Albin was chosen as the 2004 IWLCA Division II Scholar-Athlete of Year and received the 2004 Outstanding Senior Leadership Award from UC Davis.

Albin also took time to volunteer, including spending 12 weeks as a ProPERU volunteer in Urubamba, Peru, in 2003. While there she taught physical education, built clean-burning stoves in adobe houses, installed septic systems and flush toilets in a preschool and planted 1,000 saplings on a reforestation site. Albin also shared her time with Shriners Hospital, served as a tutor in the athletics study hall, took notes for a student with disabilities and participated on the school's Student-Athlete Advisory Council holiday drives and Christmas Flute Ensemble.

Albin, in part, credits her innate competitive drive for her successes.

"I think from when I was 5 years old, from the first sport I was ever involved with, I wanted to win. I have always been very naturally competitive," said Albin, who encouraged aspiring athletes to believe that everything they make a priority can be achieved.

"Don't ever believe that you can't do something. I know it sounds cliché, but pretty much anything you are determined to do, it might be painful, but you can do it. You can make that a metaphor on a small scale -- whether it's lifting a certain weight -- or on a large scale, like graduating with a Ph.D," she said.

Currently, Albin has turned her attention to working on a master's degree, and she is considering the possibility of attending medical school in the future.

Last year's Woman of the Year, Ashley Jo Rowatt, also attended the awards dinner. Rowatt, a 13-time all-American swimming and diving student-athlete at Kenyon College, was the first winner selected from Division III.

The 2004 Woman of Year dinner will be broadcast on ESPN2 December 3.