The 2009 NCAA Woman of the Year will be revealed Sunday. But, some history has already been made in the run up to the 19th annual awarding of the prestigious honor.

Woman of the Year Top 30 nominee Tanesha Hughes, a three-sport student-athlete representing the Midwest Conference and Monmouth (Illinois), and Monmouth women’s basketball coach Melissa Jones Bittner are believed to be the first student-athlete/coach tandem to earn places in the field of Woman of the Year semifinalists.

Bittner, a Monmouth graduate, was the Illinois state winner and a top 10 finalist in 2003.

Hughes will be among the top 30 honorees who will be recognized at the October 18 NCAA Woman of the Year awards dinner in Indianapolis, during which the 2009 NCAA Woman of the Year also will be announced.

Honorees also will participate in the Woman of the Year Legacy Garden program, which provides middle school female students the opportunity to join the NCAA Woman of the Year honorees in a day of community service. The community-service activity includes planting seasonal flowers, bulbs, trees and shrubs, mulching, and watering the garden. The garden will be a permanent addition in the White River State Park, where the NCAA national office is located.

Hughes said when she heard she was being nominated for Woman of the Year honors, she didn’t expect to advance far.

“There are a lot of great athletes out there and the NCAA is big,” she said. “I didn’t think I would get this far, but I’m so happy I did.”

Bittner recalled receiving the call from an ecstatic Hughes announcing that she had been chosen as a Top 30 honoree. “I get a phone call from Tanesha at 9:30 p.m. on a Saturday, and I was like what’s she calling for at this hour? She was really pumped up,” she said. “It’s prestigious and players definitely know what a great experience and opportunity it is.”

Reflecting back to her experience six years ago, Bittner said she enjoyed meeting her fellow honorees and the chance to give back to the community by putting on a sports clinic for youth in Indianapolis. She described the weekend-long celebration as a great culmination to her collegiate athletics career.

The Woman of the Year honor is just the most recent common ground Bittner and Hughes have shared. Bittner inherited a team that was 6-17 the previous year, and Hughes was among the first student-athletes the coach attracted to the program and guided for four years.

Bittner, entering her fifth season as coach, credits that class of recruits with helping to turn the program around. Hughes was a key ingredient in Monmouth’s subsequent surge to success, helping the Scots register four straight winning seasons.

In addition to leading the conference in scoring and rebounding as a senior, Hughes was an all-conference selection in volleyball and as well as a five-time conference champion and an all-America pick in track. The computer-science major was a 10-time academic all-conference selection, was named to the National Dean’s List and participated in more than 15 different volunteer activities at Monmouth. She also was homecoming queen.

The respect coach and player have for one another flows easily both ways.

“Because she’s so close in age to us, she’s more than just a coach,” said Hughes. “She knew how excited I was about being a nominee because she’s already been in this position.”

Pointing to Hughes’ wide-ranging accomplishments, Bittner said the Woman of the Year award does a good job of elevating the profile of female student-athletes.

The purpose of the award, she said, is not only to highlight the best of the best athletically but also to call attention to the importance of being well-rounded individuals. “It’s a great way to get the word out that we’re not just athletes but we can strive for high amounts of success in the classroom, in the community and on the court as well.”

Bittner advised the newest group of award recipients to remember the little things that have helped them achieve so much and to keep doing those same things in the pursuit of future success.

For her part, Hughes, who graduated from Monmouth in May and currently works as a software specialist for a technology company outside St. Louis, urged current student-athletes to savor their collegiate careers.

“I’ve been a multisport athlete since the fifth grade and there’s nothing like being on a team,” she said. “You have to enjoy it while you can because those moments are priceless."