STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford's Brooke Forde and Naomi Girma are two of 10 exceptional recent student-athletes selected as Today's Top 10 awardees. The award honors recipients for outstanding achievements as athletes, students and contributors to their campuses and communities.
The Today's Top 10 awardees will be honored at the Honors Celebration on Jan. 11 during the NCAA Convention in San Antonio.
The NCAA Honors Committee, which selects the honorees, is composed of nationally distinguished citizens and dedicated representatives from NCAA member schools and conferences, including past awardees.
Joining Forde and Girma as 2023 NCAA Today's Top 10 awardees are Sylvie Binder, Columbia; Jaeda Daniel, NC State; Gianna Glatz, Rutgers; Blaine Hawkins, Central (Iowa); Jessica Meakim, West Chester; Jack Mulvihill, St. John Fisher; Juan Ortiz Couder, Embry-Riddle (Florida); and Abby Steiner, Kentucky.
The awardees each have completed their undergraduate studies and their athletics eligibility and are pursuing successful futures.
During her five seasons competing on The Farm, Forde led Stanford to a pair of NCAA championships (2018, 2019) and four Pac-12 titles (2018-20, 2022). Forde claimed five NCAA individual or relay national titles - part of being a 19-time All-American and six-time Pac-12 champion (individual and relays combined).
Forde has been a mainstay representing the U.S. on the international stage, capturing a silver medal in the 800 free relay at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games and competing in the 400 individual medley at the 2019 FINA World Championships.
Forde's academic honors are equally impressive, being named the 2021 CoSIDA At-Large Academic All-America of the Year and a three-time CoSIDA First Team Academic All-America (2020, 2021, 2022). Additionally, Forde was the 2020-21 Pac-12 Women's Swimming and Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year, a five-time CSCAA Scholar All-American (2018-22), three-time Pac-12 Winter Academic Honor Roll recipient (2020, 2021, 2022) and a 2019 Pac-12 All-Academic First Team All-Academic selection.
Forde's leadership and service activities include serving as co-president of the Stanford Student-Athlete Sustainability Committee and creating the Pac-12 Sustainability Committee, during which she spearheaded a Zero Waste initiative at a Stanford football game with recycling, e-waste and donation drives that were duplicated during basketball season. Forde also assisted in creating a sustainability in athletics course at Stanford that has been recognized by the United Nations. Forde received Stanford University's 2022 James W. Lyons Award for Service, which highlights outstanding contributions in areas of extraordinary need that result in substantial change.
A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Forde completed a master's degree in epidemiology with a 4.2 grade-point average after receiving an undergraduate degree in human biology with a 3.96 GPA in 2021. Forde is currently serving a two-year assignment with the Peace Corps as a public health officer in rural Peru.
Forde has also been named one of nine finalists for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year award.
Girma was a member of Stanford's 2019 national championship team and a two-time first-team United Soccer Coaches All-American. In 2019, Girma was selected NCAA Women's College Cup Most Outstanding Defensive Player and named to the all-tournament team.
The 2019 ESPNW All-American was twice named to the United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Women's All-Pacific Region first team and was a two-time United Soccer Coaches MAC Hermann Trophy Semifinalist. A member of the Pac-12 champion team in 2019 and 2018, she earned both the Pac-12 Defender of the Year and All-Pac-12 first-team selections in 2021 and 2019.
Girma was called to the U.S. Women's National Team camp in 2020 and was named the U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year. She was selected first overall in the 2022 National Women's Soccer League draft by the San Diego Wave and she was named the NWSL Rookie of the Year and the NWSL Defender of the Year after her first season.
In 2021, Girma was named a first-team College Sports Communicators Academic All-American, a first-team United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-American and the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
The three-year team captain was a member of the campus Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. She volunteered with Soccer Without Borders, and she has helped introduce soccer to the Ethiopian community in San Jose, California, through the Maleda Soccer Club.
