Glenbrook North graduate a semifinalist for NCAA Woman of the Year
Glenbrook North High School graduate Ellen Gilbert, a former star swimmer at Illinois Wesleyan University, was honored Jan. 12 at the NCAA Convention in San Antonio.
Gilbert was among 30 semifinalists for the NCAA's Woman of the Year, and among 10 semifinalists from Division III institutions.
Held at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, it was the first time the Woman of the Year was named and the 30 semifinalists acknowledged at the convention in the award's 32-year history. Karenna Groff, an All-American soccer player and biological engineering major at MIT, was named the NCAA's 2022 Woman of the Year.
Gilbert, a two-time second-team all-state selection for Glenbrook North's girls swimming team, graduated summa cum laude from Illinois Wesleyan in the spring of 2022 with a degree in psychology and a 4.00 grade-point average.
A three-time team MVP for the IWU Titans - the 2020-21 season had no MVP, interrupted by COVID - she holds the program record for the 100-yard butterfly and swam on IWU's record-setting 400 freestyle relay.
She concluded her career as a Division III First-Team All-American, Illinois Wesleyan's first in five years, with a sixth-place finish in the 200 butterfly in Indianapolis on March 18, 2022.
Gilbert was a three-time College Sports Communicators Academic All-America honoree, an eight-time College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin individual champion, and was twice named CCIW swimmer of the year.
She was named the CCIW's overall Woman of the Year for the 2021-22 school year, acknowledging academics, athletics, service and leadership.
Gilbert was inducted into the Psi Chi and Phi Kappa Phi national honor societies, and volunteered with the Teaching Buddies tutoring group for low-income Chicago students.
On campus in Bloomington, Gilbert served on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, was co-president of the Rehabilitation Therapy Club, and served as vice president of the Circle K International club.
Ellen's brother, Tommy Gilbert, is a 2012 IWU graduate and former Titan swimmer in his sixth year as an assistant coach with IWU's women's and men's swimming programs.