SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – Senior Ryann Callaghan of the Drew University field hockey and women's lacrosse teams was selected as the Drew Woman of the Year by the New Jersey Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (NJAIAW). She was honored at the 27th annual New Jersey Girls & Women In Sports Day luncheon at Seton Hall University this past Sunday.
 
High schools, junior colleges and four-year colleges and universities from across New Jersey each chose a Woman of the Year based upon athletic excellence, academic success and community service. The honorees were saluted at the morning luncheon, and they were also recognized at halftime of Seton Hall's women's basketball game against Butler.

Callaghan established herself as a four-year starter and record-breaking goalkeeper for the Ranger field hockey team. She broke both the Drew and Landmark Conference career saves records by nearly 150, collecting 666 career stops, and she also posted the eighth- and ninth-highest totals in single-season school history (181 in 2017, 176 in 2015). She has also posted nine of the top-12 single-game save totals in school history, including a career-high 26 against TCNJ in 2016, which ranks second all-time at Drew. Callaghan was twice selected as the team MVP, including this past season, when she registered a pair of shutouts and was named the Landmark Conference Defensive Player of the Week. An outstanding leader, she was named a team co-captain in 2018. She has also competed as a goalie for the Ranger women's lacrosse squad over the last two seasons.

Away from the field, Callaghan has participated in Drew's RISE research program and presented her findings at two prestigious conferences in the past year. A biology and Spanish double major, she has studied abroad in South Africa and is a member of the Pre-Health Society, the Spanish Honor Society, and Tri-Beta (biology honor society). This past summer, she conducted cardiovascular research at UC-San Diego through the American Heart Association Summer Research Fellowship. A Baldwin Honors student, she has earned a spot on the Landmark Conference Academic honor Roll every semester in which she has been eligible. She was also selected to the National Field Hockey Coaches Association All-Academic Squad in each of the past three seasons. In addition, she works on campus in the tutoring center.

"I am proud of Ryann and all of her hard work in the classroom and on the field," said Drew Field Hockey Head Coach Jess Gray. "She deserves this honor and I know she will go on to make her Drew Hockey family as well as the Drew community very proud. She works hard and amazes me with everything she does."

Drew Senior Woman Administrator and Men's and Women's Golf Head Coach Maura Ballard delivered a keynote speech at the event, which serves as a prelude to National Girls & Women In Sports Day. NGWSD celebrates the athletic achievements of women and the positive well-being associated with sports participation, while also recognizing the continuing struggle for equality in women's sports. Chartered by Congress in 1986, NGWSD will celebrate its 33rd anniversary on Feb. 7.