Trio of Owls Earn Female Athlete of the Year Honors
Tremendous success across the year for Owls women's sports leads to the trio of Eliza Lee, Kaleigh Murphy, and Hannah Wodecki earning female athlete of the year honors.
WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State Athletics recognized three female student-athletes for yearly honors as seniors Eliza Lee (Walpole, Mass.), Kaleigh Murphy (Pembroke, Mass.), and Hannah Wodecki (Southampton, Mass.) all were named the Owls Female Athletes of the Year.
Women's sports delivered a banner year for Owls athletics, winning six MASCAC championship titles with Lee, Murphy, and Wodecki all serving as key contributors on conference championship-winning teams.
Lee was part of two championship-winning teams this year, helping guide the Owls to MASCAC indoor and outdoor titles this season, winning a combined eight events between the two meets. For the indoor meet, she won the long jump, the triple jump, and was part of the winning 4x200 relay. Outdoors, Lee won the long jump, triple jump, and 400-meter hurdles, and was part of the winning 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams.
She gathered All-New England marks in the triple jump during the indoor season, then at the New England Outdoor Championships, Lee gained All-New England honors in both the triple jump and long jump, then climbed into the NCAA Division III Championship field by winning the long jump at the Farley Inter-Regional meet at Williams College. She finished 15th on the outdoor performance list to qualify for the NCAA National Championships where she will compete in the long jump today (Thursday) at 6:00 P.M. from La Crosse, Wisconsin.
Murphy captained the Owls field hockey team to a record-setting season, guiding Westfield to a program-high 18 wins, the best overall record (18-4), and the longest winning streak in program history which reached 16 games to push the Owls into the NCAA Tournament. She was a MASCAC all-conference first team selection as a forward, leading the team in scoring with 18 goals and eight assists for 44 points.
A two-time MASCAC champion, Murphy built up a reputation of converting in critical situations for the Owls all season, scoring seven game-winning goals throughout the season with three coming in sudden-victory overtime periods where the Owls were 3-0 in extra time on the year. She punctuates a strong four-year career with 42 goals, 19 assists, and 103 points including 16 game-winning goals.
Wodecki put together an incredible three-year career with the Owls softball team, hitting in the middle of the order while producing several historical marks this season. She has recorded more than 200 hits in her intercollegiate career while breaking the career home run record with 19 and the single-season doubles record with 18. She was named to the NFCA all-region third team and was a MASCAC all-conference first team selection after batting a blistering .418 with six home runs, 59 hits, 34 RBI and 48 runs scored.
She helped lead the Owls to a third-straight conference regular season title, and this season, steered the Owls to their first MASCAC tournament title in program history. The Owls advanced into the NCAA Tournament where she hit for a .400 batting average with a double and home run and in doing so was named to the Bethlehem, Pa. Regional all-tournament team. A transfer from Division II Franklin Pierce University, Wodecki played in 124 games with the Owls, posting a .422 career batting average with 183 hits, 127 runs batted in, 42 doubles, 19 home runs, and 70 extra base hits while striking out in just four percent of her career at bats (only 18 strikeouts in 434 career at bats with the Owls).
Lee, Murphy, and Wodecki were all presented with the award from Senior Associate Athletics Director/Senior Woman Administrator, Nancy Bals.














































































































































































































