UTICA, N.Y. (WUTR/WFXV/WPNY) – The Empire 8 conference announced their, “Women of the Year” Wednesday morning, with Utica University’s Sydney Przygoda being named alongside Elmira College’s Eliza Beaudin.

Przygoda recently graduated from Utica Summa Cum Laude with a GPA over 3.9 as a Psychology major. She was named an honorable mention All-American and Empire 8 First Teamer after averaging a double-double in 2021-22, her senior year. Among other accolades, she was honored with Utica U’s Jim “Doc” Spartano Senior Student-Athlete Award. A 1,000-point scorer, she served on Utica’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and was Vice President of Utica’s Psychology Society.

Eliza Beaudin, an ice hockey player at Elmira College, was the other Co-Woman of the Year named by the conference and with the honor, the two women will have their names submitted to the NCAA Woman of the Year Committee, which will then narrow the field of 151 down to one singular National Woman of the Year.