Recent graduate Caroline Adams has earned the New England Small College Athletic Conference's (NESCAC) nomination for the 2026 Division III Commissioners Association (DIIICA) Women's Sport Student-Athlete of the Year Award. A committee of NESCAC athletic administrators selected Adams, along with Tufts' Hannah Jiang, for regional consideration for the DIIICA honor.

HONOREE HIGHLIGHTS

• Adams graduated summa cum laude in May with a dual degree in neuroscience and Spanish.
• The three-time Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) All-American became the fifth consecutive Panther to be named the National Player and Attacker of the Year.
• She was recognized as the NCAA Tournament's Most Outstanding Player and the NESCAC Offensive Player of the Year, alongside her third all-region and all-conference selections.
• The Green Mountain State native enjoyed a career year. Her totals of 72 goals, 117 points and 124 draw controls each paced the NESCAC, while her point figure is just two behind the single-season program record.
• Adams became the first Middlebury player to eclipse 100 victories in three different campaigns. Her 473 draw controls over 86 contests are the most in a Panther uniform.
• Off the field, the Phi Beta Kappa inductee received Middlebury's Hazeltine-Klevenow Trophy, awarded to a women's team member who best combines ability in athletics and excellence in scholarship.
• She served as a teacher's assistant in the psychology department and a research assistant in both the neuroscience and organic chemistry departments.
• The four-time national champion earned the Middlebury First Year Ward Prize for Writing and the President's Undergraduate Language Scholar laurel in 2024. She is a three-time NESCAC All-Academic honoree and a member of the IWLCA Division III Honor Roll.
• Adams was equally impactful in the Middlebury community. She served as Co-Leader and Sustainability Chair of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and a mentor for the Women in Health Science Club.
• Off campus, she volunteered as an interpreter at the Open Door Clinic and as an Everybody Wins mentor at Mary Hogan Elementary School. Adams finished among the top 30 volunteers in Middlebury's Helper Helper campaign this year and participated in United Way Days of Caring.

To read the NESCAC's full release, click here.