CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA . . . Recent Wartburg College graduate and former track & field student-athlete Hannah Baker (Keota, Iowa/Keota) has been named the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s nominee for the 2010 NCAA Woman of the Year Award.

The NCAA Woman of the Year Award honors senior student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership.

A 12-time Iowa Conference champion and a 13-time All-American, Baker completed her Knights career May 29 by anchoring Wartburg’s 1,600-meter relay to a national title. It was her fifth career national title, as she previously ran on championship-winning 1,600-meter relays at the 2007, 2008, and 2009 NCAA outdoor and 2009 NCAA indoor meets. She graduates as the Iowa Conference record holder in the indoor 400-meter dash (56.63 seconds), outdoor 400-meter dash (54.56), and as a member of the indoor 4x200-meter relay (1:41.54). She also holds Wartburg school records in the indoor 400 and outdoor 400 and as a member of five school-record relays. Baker was also named the Most Valuable Performer at the 2008 IIAC Indoor Track & Field Championships.

Baker, an NCAA Postgraduate Scholar who graduated with a 3.98 grade-point average while majoring in biology, was a three-time CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America selection. She earned First Team honors in both 2009 and 2010 after being named to the Third Team in 2008 as a sophomore. Baker was also named to the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team three times and was a member of the Iowa Conference All-Academic Team each of the past three academic years.

In addition, she was a member of four national academic honor societies—Beta Beta Beta (biology), Psi Chi (psychology), Phi Eta Sigma (first-years), and Alpha Chi (general academics)—and was selected by Wartburg President Dr. Darrel Colson to deliver the senior address at the 2010 Commencement ceremony.