Sophomore Katarina Jokic was named one of four finalists for the Class of 2019 Honda Sport Award for tennis as announced Friday by Chris Voelz, Executive Director of THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA).
The Honda Sport Award has been presented annually by the CWSA for the past 43 years to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports and signifies “the best of the best in collegiate athletics”. The winner of the sport award becomes a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the prestigious 2019 Honda Cup which will be presented on a live telecast on CBS Sports Network on Monday, June 24, 2019, in downtown Los, Angeles.
The nominees were chosen by a combination of NCAA Championship finishes and national tennis rankings. The Honda Sport Award winner for Tennis will be announced next week after voting by administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools. Each NCAA member institution has a vote.
According to the criteria for voting, the award winner is to reflect “not only athletic achievement but also the ideals of team contribution, scholastic endeavor, school and community involvement and those personal characteristics as are stated in the philosophy of the NCAA.”
The nomination for Jokic adds to a lengthy list of accolades for the sophomore Bulldog. Most recently, she garnered ITA All-America honors in singles and doubles to become a three-time recipient. Earlier this week, she earned the top spot in ITA’s final singles ranking, marking the ninth time at No. 1 in 12 polls this season.
Jokic, of Novi Grad, Bosnia, finished as the ITA National Fall Singles Champion, NCAA singles runner-up and named NCAA All-Tournament Team No. 1 singles after leading the Bulldogs to the NCAA Team Championship. Playing exclusively at No. 1 singles, she also led Georgia to an ITA National Team Indoor Championship, and the SEC regular season championship. At National Indoors, she was named Most Outstanding Player, All-Tournament in singles and doubles, and clinched the final two victories for Georgia’s sixth all-time team title. The two-time First Team All-SEC performer helped the Bulldogs capture their 10th SEC regular season championship.
In the classroom, she’s got a 3.53 GPA as a Management major and made the Dean’s List plus the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll every semester.
Georgia contains three Honda Award winners in program history. Lisa Spain won in 1984, Angela Lettiere in 1994, and Marissa Catlin in 1998.
Joining Jokic as finalists are Kate Fahey of the University of Michigan, Ingrid Martins from the University of South Carolina and the University of Miami’s Estela Perez-Somarriba for the Class of 2019 Honda Sport Award for Tennis.