Madison Kellione, a recent Transylvania University graduate and this year’s NCAA championship MVP, has been named the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference’s Athlete of the Year for women’s sports.
Kellione is the first student-athlete to receive that recognition in back-to-back years — a timeframe that saw her women’s basketball team notching a total 60-1 record and winning the national DIII crown this spring in Dallas.
“On the court, Kellione was impressive, leading a dangerous Pioneer team that finished the season ranked No. 1 in the country,” the conference said in a news release today.
“As if that was not enough, Kellione also earned the impressive recognition of the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Elite 90 award, which recognizes the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level in their sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among peers.” Kellione, who earned a 3.94 cumulative GPA, majored in physics and minored in biology, math and computer science.
Additionally during her time at Transylvania, the standout guard was named a WBCA All-American, HCAC Tournament Team MVP, D3hoops.com Second Team All-American and to the D3 Hoops 8th Region First Team. She finished ranked 13th nationally in assists and 26th in points.
To cap it off, Kellione got to meet some famous women at the national championship, which was part of the NCAA’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of Title IX.
Pioneers have received the HCAC Female Athlete of the Year honor four of the past 10 years.
2023 Madison Kellione, Women’s Basketball, Transylvania University
2022 Madison Kellione, Women’s Basketball, Transylvania University
2021 Alehia Tucker, Softball, Mount St. Joseph University
2020 Brynna Sentel, Women’s Swimming and Diving, Franklin College
2019 Aishat Sadiq, Track and Field, Earlham College
2018 Renae Morton, Softball, Transylvania University
2017 Jordin Fender, Track and Field, Transylvania University
2016 Terrill Webb, Track and Field, Bluffton University
2015 Anna Murdock, Cross Country and Track and Field, Franklin College
2014 Bridgette Rowe, Soccer and Track and Field, Manchester University