Former Georgia gymnast Grace Taylor Johnson has been named one of the Southeastern Conference’s two nominees for the 2011 NCAA Woman of the Year Award, it was announced by the league office.

GRACE TAYLOR

The NCAA Woman of the Year Award honors graduating student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership. Student-athletes are nominated only once in their career by their institution.

A member of three national championship teams, Johnson is considered to be one of the top gymnasts in Georgia history. In 2010 she was the only gymnast in the SEC to receive a perfect 10, which she earned on the balance beam. That capped off her total of three perfect tens in her career as a Gym Dog, including two on beam and one on bars. Johnson earned five All-America honors during her career and captured the 2008 NCAA beam title.

A 2010 recipient of an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, Johnson was a four-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll, earned Second-Team ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-America At-Large Team honors and won the 2009 SEC Gymnastics Scholar-Athlete Award. She was also a member of the National Gymnastics Coaches All-Scholastic Team.

Johnson graduated from UGA in May with a degree in Health Promotion. She is enrolled in graduate school and will serve as a graduate assistant on the Gym Dogs’ staff in 2011-12.

This marks the second straight year the SEC has nominated a student-athlete from UGA as former Gym Dog Courtney Kupets was nominated in 2010.

Georgia has had three NCAA Woman of the Year honorees: swimmers Lisa Ann Coole in 1997, Kristy Kowal in 2000 and Kimberly A. Black in 2001.

A committee composed of representatives from NCAA member schools and athletic conferences will select 10 nominees from each of the three divisions to compose the top 30 nominees, who will be announced in late August. From among those 30 candidates, the selection committee will determine the top three in each division in early September. Finally, members of the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics will vote from among the top nine finalists to determine the 2011 NCAA Woman of the Year. The 2011 NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced during the Woman of the Year dinner in Indianapolis Oct. 16.

Kim Laing, a member of the University of Alabama track and field team, was also nominated by the SEC.

Jenna Owens named soccer high school All-American

Georgia soccer freshman Jenna Owens added another award to her impressive resume last week, named a second-team ESPNRISE Girls High School Soccer All-America, according to an announcement on the organization’s website.

In all, 36 high school players were selected to the three teams using a combination of high school performance, coaching and media recommendations, and recruiting details.

Owens was a standout at Mountain Vista High School in Highlands Ranch, Colo., and with her club team – Real Colorado. At Mountain Vista she led the Golden Eagles to the state semifinals two years in a row including the championship in 2011, when she was named the 5A All-State and Continental League player of the year.

Owens has already had an effect with the Bulldogs, scoring a goal in the intrasquad scrimmage Aug. 5 and challenging for a starting spot in the midfield.

Lady Bulldog Track & Field named a All-Academic Team

The Georgia women’s track and field team has been named one of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic teams, according to a recent announcement.

The Lady Bulldogs earned the distinction as a result of a cumulative team GPA of 3.00 or better. The Georgia women posted a 3.03 GPA following the spring semester.

Bridget Lyons, Maria Augutis and Lucie Ondraschkova were already announced as Georgia’s female individual recipients of the honor while David Schiedt and Asaph Levy were on the male individual squad.