For the 33rd consecutive year, the NCAA Honors Committee has selected student-athletes who have achieved success in competition, academics and community service as recipients of the NCAA Today's Top VIII. The honorees will be recognized January 9 during the Honors Dinner at the 99th annual NCAA Convention.

The 2005 Today's Top VIII are: Kelly Albin, University of California, Davis, lacrosse; Caesar Garcia, Auburn University, swimming and diving; Tara Kirk, Stanford University, swimming and diving; Kelly Mazzante, Pennsylvania State University, basketball; Kay Mikolajczak, University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, basketball and outdoor track and field; Ogonna Nnamani, Stanford University, volleyball; Angela Ruggiero, Harvard University, ice hockey; and Kelly Wilson, University of Texas at Austin, soccer.

Following are selected highlights of the 2005 NCAA Today's Top VIII.

Kelly Albin
University of California, Davis
Lacrosse

• 2004 NCAA Woman of the Year.

• Harrow Sports/Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) and Inside Lacrosse first-team all-American.

* Established UC Davis career marks in assists, season assists, assists in a game, ground balls and turnovers; was ranked second in goals in a game, career points, season points and career shots.

• 2004 IWLCA NCAA Division II Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

• NCAA postgraduate scholarship recipient.

• 2004 UC Davis outstanding senior leadership award; two-time winner of the school's Alfred J. Hoefer Award presented for academic, leadership and athletics achievement.

• Taught physical education and helped to install a septic system in a preschool and plant 1,000 saplings on a reforestation site as a volunteer in Peru.

• Served as an assistant soccer coach at Fort Bragg (California) High School and volunteered at Shriner's Hospital.

Caesar Garcia
Auburn University
Swimming and diving

• 2003-04 NCAA Diver of the Year.

• Won platform diving at the 2003 Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships.

• Won the platform during the 2002-03 Olympic team trials.

* 2001 Southeastern Conference freshman diver of the year.

• Member of the U.S. Men's National Team.

• Walter Byers Postgraduate Scholarship finalist; first-team Academic All-American.

• 2003 Southeastern Conference Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

• Initiated and taught the Character Counts program at local elementary schools and served as vice-chair and head of the community-service committee for Auburn's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

• Participated in the Read Across America program and served as an athlete representative on the board of directors for U.S. Diving.

* Served as athlete representative on the board of directors for U.S. Diving.

* USA Diving's Sportsman of the Year.

Tara Kirk
Stanford University
Swimming and diving

• First four-time NCAA Division I champion in the 100-meter breaststroke.

• 16-time all-American and 11-time NCAA champion.

• Established six American records and captured 14 Pacific-10 Conference titles.

• 2004 Olympic qualifier.

• 2004 Honda Broderick Cup as the collegiate woman of the year.

• 2004 Pac-10 swimmer of the year.

• 2004 NCAA postgraduate scholarship recipient.

• Special Olympics volunteer; also served as an instructor at swimming clinics for local age group teams.

Kelly Mazzante
Pennsylvania State University
Basketball

* Three-time Women's Basketball Coaches Association/Kodak all-American.

• All-time leading scorer (male or female) in Big Ten Conference history with 2,919 points.

• Established conference records in single-game (49 points) and season (872 points) scoring.

• Fastest in league history to tally 1,000 and 2,000 career points.

• First player to lead the Big Ten in scoring for three straight years.

• Two-time Penn State female student-athlete of the year and 2004 Suzy Favor Big Ten Female Student-Athlete of the Year.

• Won a gold medal as a member of the U.S. Young Women's Qualifying Team in 2002.

• John R. Wooden all-American and a three-time Naismith national player of the year finalist.

• Academic All-American; all-Big Ten academic selection.

• Assisted special-needs children with therapeutic horseback riding as a volunteer with the Easter Seals.

• Volunteered with the United Way and served as a speaker at local elementary and high schools.

Kay Mikolajczak
University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh
Basketball, track and field

* 2004 NCAA Woman of the Year representative for the state of Wisconsin.

• Scored 1,124 points, collected 643 rebounds and ranked first in career blocked shots at Wisconsin-Oshkosh with 127.

• 2004 Josten's Player of the Year.

• 2004 WBCA/Kodak first-team all-American pick for NCAA Division III.

• Member of the 2004 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship team; led the league with 12 double-doubles.

• Two-time all-American in track and field.

• Member of the 2004 NCAA Division III outdoor track and field national championship team.

• 2003 conference champion in the javelin; second-team all-WIAC in the high jump in 2002.

• NCAA postgraduate scholarship recipient.

• WIAC co-scholar athlete of the year in basketball.

• Winner of Wisconsin-Oshkosh's John Taylor Senior Scholar-Athlete Award.

• President of the school's SAAC.

• Volunteered with Special Olympics and at a senior day care LEFT.

• Member of campus gender-equity committee.

Ogonna Nnamani
Stanford University
Volleyball

• Named most outstanding player of 2004 Division I Women's Volleyball Championship after leading Stanford to three-game sweep.

• American Volleyball Coaches Association co-player of the year.

• 2004 Pacific-10 Conference player of the year.

• Ranked first in career kills and single-season kills for Stanford; is the Pac-10 record holder for career kills, attack attempts and most points in a single season.

• Ranks among top 15 all-time for career kills.

* Earned a bronze medal as a member of the 2004 U.S. Olympic indoor volleyball team.

• Honda Award nominee.

• Member of the 2004 U.S. Olympic indoor volleyball team.

• Volleyball Magazine's national freshman of the year during Stanford's national championship season in 2001.

• First-team Academic All-American; three-time all- Pac-10 academic selection.

• Volunteered as a tutor in oral communications and as a motivational speaker at local elementary schools and high schools.

• Four-year member of the Cardinal Council, the student-athlete advisory committee at Stanford.

• Has volunteered as a motivational speaker at local elementary schools and high schools.

Angela Ruggiero
Harvard University
Ice hockey

• 2004 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award (top player in women's collegiate ice hockey).

• Led Harvard to successive appearances in the Women's Frozen Four championship games in 2003 and 2004.

• Second player in history to be named as an American Hockey Coaches Association first-team all-American four times.

• 2004 Ivy Group and ECAC player of the year.

• Member of 1998 gold-medal-winning U.S. Olympic women's ice hockey team; also won a silver medal at the 2002 Games.

• Two-time USA Hockey women's player of the year.

• Recipient of the 2004 International Ice Hockey Federation Directorate Award as the best defender at the World Championships.

• 2004 Academic All-American; two-time all-ECAC academic choice.

• 2004 Radcliffe Association Award as Harvard's top female student-athlete.

• Co-chair of the Harvard Radcliffe Foundation for Women's Athletics.

• Volunteered with Sports Activism Youth, a program that brings sport to children living in refugee areas.

Kelly Wilson
University of Texas at Austin
Soccer

• 2003 Big 12 Conference offensive player of the year.

• Led Texas to four straight NCAA tournament appearances and four consecutive 10-win seasons.

• Two-time all-American.

• Established Texas career records for game-winning goals, assists, points, games played and games started.

• Ranked in top two in the conference in every offensive category during the 2004 season.

• Member of the 2002 U.S. National Team and the 2003-04 U.S. Under-21 National Team.

• Candidate for the 2003 FIFA World Player of the Year; candidate for FIFA World Player of the Year Award in 2003.

• Recipient of the 2004 Big 12 Conference Scholar-Athlete Award; three-time first-team academic all-Big 12 selection.

• Twice honored with Texas' Doc Neuhaus Award for athletics and academic achievement.

• Served as a volunteer soccer coach for a youth soccer team and participated in Pen Pals for local elementary students.

• Provided services for sick and disabled members of her church.