The National Alliance of Two Year College Athletic Administrators (NATYCAA) is proud to announce Jamestown (N.Y.) Community College’s Dan Torres and Chipola (Fla.) College’s Amy Woodham as the 2019-20 Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award recipients sponsored by Relation Insurance Services.
NATYCAA traditionally recognizes the Scholar-Athletes of the Year during its annual Convention, however, this year’s event has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, NATYCAA will provide additional coverage of Torres and Woodham during what would have been Convention Week, June 7-10.
"The NATYCAA Scholar-Athlete Awards are presented to student-athletes who have demonstrated their academic, athletics and leadership abilities while also serving their community," stated current NATYCAA President and Executive Director of Student Life and Athletics at The College of Southern Maryland, Michelle Ruble. “This national award is presented to a male and female selected from the nine NATYCAA District winners. All nominees have achieved excellence at the highest level and have volunteered their time to improve the lives of others. This year’s recipients, Dan Torres and Amy Woodham, have achieved this and represented their institutions with distinction. Congratulations to Dan and Amy, and to all the district winners who earned their place on NATYCAA’s Scholar-Athlete Team!”
Amy Woodham
As a sophomore in 2019, Woodham led Chipola College to the NJCAA Division I Softball National Championship and received the NJCAA’s Betty Jo Graber Award, given annually to the female student-athlete of the year. As a pitcher, she was dominant, posting a career record of 37-2, including 29-2 en route to earning NJCAA Pitcher of the Year honors in 2019, but Woodham helped her college’s community overcome an even more formidable foe earlier in her sophomore year. After Hurricane Michael ripped through the campus in October 2018, Woodham was there to assist in clean-up efforts and to help replant trees on campus. She was also a regular volunteer with local youth softball and volunteered at a local school for developmentally disabled students. After graduating with a 4.0 GPA, Woodham enrolled at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), where she had started her junior season prior to the shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m extremely proud of Amy for being selected for this very prestigious award,” said Jeff Johnson, director of athletics at Chipola College. “She exemplifies the meaning of a student-athlete, both in the classroom and on the field. Along with a 4.0 GPA throughout her career in the classroom, she also led our 2019 softball team to the NJCAA D1 National Championship on the mound and as a pitcher and DH. Chipola College is extremely pleased to have Amy receive this award and honor!”
Woodham was previously named to NATYCAA’s Scholar-Athlete Team as the female representative for District 3.
Dan Torres
Torres, a native of Cassadaga, N.Y., dismantled the competition during his sophomore season in 2019-20, compiling a record of 42-7, a new school record for wins, as well as first-place trophies at the Brockport Open, Waynesburg Invitational and JCC Open. He finished second at the national tournament in the 174-lb weight class and earned second-team NJCAA All-America honors. Torres’ talents transcend wrestling. A model student, he compiled a 4.0 GPA in criminal justice and has earned numerous academic accolades, including the 2019 NYS Chancellor Scholar in wrestling, awarded to the top student-athlete in all of SUNY and CUNY. Despite a demanding schedule, Torres finds opportunities to give back to his community, particularly with area youth wrestling and Kallie’s Crusade affiliated events. Though he has sights on entering the police academy, his next stop will be the University at Buffalo (UB), where he signed a national letter of intent to wrestle for the Bulls.
“Dan is a tremendously balanced young man. In his two years at Jamestown Community College, he has shown consistent discipline throughout all of his commitments,” said George Sisson, athletics director at Jamestown CC. “He is an honors student with a perfect GPA, All-American athlete and an outstanding young man. His strength is his ability to stay focused on his desired goals and objectives but well-rounded enough to be a man of character and a leader of his peers. We could not be more proud of Dan for the example he has set for our future Jayhawk student-athletes.”
Torres was previously named to NATYCAA’s Scholar-Athlete Team as the male representative for District 1.
About NATYCAA: Now in its 32nd year, NATYCAA is the professional organization of two-year college athletics administrators and membership open to all two-year institutions from throughout the country. NATYCAA is administered by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), which is in its 55th year. For more information on NACDA and the 17 professional associations that fall under its umbrella, please visit www.nacda.com.