INDIANAPOLIS --- Mississippi College women's soccer player, Erin Hederman, honored by the NCAA for the 50th Anniversary Gold Award, as announced by the Association on Monday, Nov. 13.
 
Division II schools and conferences have submitted a total of 231 nominations for the 50th Anniversary Gold Award. She is one of 12 nominees from the Gulf South Conference, including four females. With her nomination, she is one 45 finalists from each of the 23 DII conferences for consideration for the overall award.
 
The nominees include current and former student-athletes, coaches, faculty members and administrators from active member schools and conferences who have helped shape Division II over time.
 
Hederman is the epitome of a NCAA Division II student-athlete. She serves her team, her athletic department, her University and her community with the same vigor as she does on the pitch for the Choctaws.
 
This fire and inward desire to better everyone around her earned her a spot on the GSC Top Ten this past summer – a gathering of the best of the best in the conference. It is the fourth consecutive year an MC female student-athlete made the conference's top ten and the fourth women's soccer player to make the list.
 
During the 2023 season, Hederman earned All-GSC First Team accolades while leading the Lady Choctaws to a 38-11 overall record, including a 9-3-1 mark in conference play, and a berth in the conference tournament. During her final season in the Blue and Gold, she also became the program record holder in career assists with 32.
 
The Jackson, Miss., native earned D2CCA All-American honors during the 2022 season on the pitch and is a two-time all-region selection (D2CCA and United Soccer Coaches). She grabbed All-GSC First Team laurels prior to her postseason accolades. She also helped lead the Lady Choctaw to a conference tournament title and was the Most Outstanding Player.
 
In the classroom, she earned USC Scholar All-American honors while also being named to the GSC All-Academic Team, the conference's academic honor roll, and a member of MC's Fall 2022 President's List. The Mississippi College Honors College student also belongs to several honor societies on campus, including Mortar Board, Phi Epsilon Kappa and Alpha Chi.
 
The former Jackson Academy standout served her community as well. She volunteered for the Salvation Army, Caring Hands, Brookdale, an assisted living community, and Stewpot. She also volunteered her time on campus, working with the MC Kinesiology Department as it hosted the Hap Hudson 5K.
 
During her career, she is a two-time D2CCA and United Soccer Coaches All-Region selection, a three-time All-Gulf South Conference member, and the 2019 GSC Freshman of the Year on the playing field. In the books, she is a three-time member of the conference's all-academic team, four-time selection to the league's academic honor roll, and seven-time MC President's List honoree.
 
She is joined by Valdosta State University Director of Athletics, Herb Reinhardt, as the second GSC nominee.
 
This award, which is part of the division's yearlong 50th anniversary celebration that launched Aug. 7 and will extend through the 2024 Division II Baseball Championship in June, will recognize two individuals (one individual who identifies as male and one who identifies as female) who have made a positive impact in Division II.
 
As part of the anniversary celebration, Division II also will provide a commemorative scholarship opportunity for student-athletes from active member schools who exhibit the core values of Division II and have not yet exhausted their athletics eligibility. Two recipients from each conference and two representing the independent institutions will be announced in May during the 2024 NCAA Division II National Championships Festival in Orlando, Florida. Nomination procedures for the scholarship will be announced to the Division II membership in January.