INDIANAPOLIS | The UAH women's lacrosse team's One Love campaign has garnered national praise as a 2024 NCAA Division II Award of Excellence finalist as announced by the NCAA on Friday.
 
Through a partnership with the One Love Foundation, UAH women's lacrosse student-athlete Kate Winstanley championed the cause, along with the rest of the program, to educate her peers on relationship violence and abuse.
 
This included workshops, trainings and a dedicated game in an effort to advance One Love's mission to empower young people with the tools and resources they need to see the signs of unhealthy relationships and bring life-saving prevention education to their communities.
 
One Love Foundation is a national non-profit organization with the goal of ending relationship abuse. One Love empowers young people with the tools and resources they need to see the signs of healthy and unhealthy relationships and bring life-saving prevention education to their communities.
 
More information about the organization can be found at JoinOneLove.org.
 
Twenty-five schools and two conferences have been named finalists for the 2024 Division II Award of Excellence, an accolade recognizing initiatives in the past year that exemplify the Division II philosophy, community engagement and student-athlete leadership. Eight finalists were picked as at-large honorees for submitting a strong nomination that was not chosen as the finalist for their conference.

UAH is the representative from the Gulf South Conference. This is the second time UAH has been a finalist for the NCAA Division II Award of Excellence, as the department's "Junior Chargers Bedtime Stories" in 2022 also received acclaim.
 
Division II honors its members each year for conducting events that promote student-athletes giving back and serving as leaders within their communities or on their campuses. A committee of athletics administrators determined this year's finalists, and the national Division II Student-Athlete Advisory Committee selected the top three finalists, who will be announced at the Division II business session on Jan. 13 at the 2024 NCAA Convention in Phoenix.
 
Each finalist will receive $500. In addition, the winner will receive $2,500, the first runner-up will receive $1,250 and the second runner-up will receive $1,000. All prize money is intended to be used for future SAAC initiatives or community engagement events.