COLORADO SPRINGS - Colorado School of Mines softball graduate Sydney Marchando has been named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's Woman of the Year following an exemplary career on and off the field.

Marchando is the second straight Oredigger to win the award, joining volleyball alumna Abby Tiesman who earned the 2019-20 edition. The RMAC Woman of the Year honors graduating student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their career in areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, community service, and leadership. Marchando will also be the conference's nominee the NCAA Woman of the Year Award; ten finalists in each division will be announced in September, with the 2021 winner selected later in the fall.

It's the latest in a bevy of postseason awards for the pitcher that included RMAC Academic Player of the Year, RMAC Summit Award winner, CoSIDA Academic All-District, and Second-Team All-RMAC. Marchando also earned two 2021 Blaster Awards - the Oredigger Excellence Award and the SAAC Community Impact Award - recognizing her contributions to the univeristy and community. In the circle, Marchando went 9-5 with a 3.32 ERA and 1.26 WHIP in 2021, striking out 84 in 23 appearances and 111.2 innings. She ended her Mines career ranked among the all-time leaders in strikeouts (6th, 281), wins (5th, 31), and ERA (6th, 3.32).

In the classroom, Marchando earned a B.S. in chemical engineering in May with a 3.99 GPA, and was named her department's outstanding graduating senior while earning Mines' Waltman Award, given to a graduating senior who has displayed the utmost integrity, scholarship and citizenship in their career. She has been accepted to graduate school at Boston University to study biomedical engineering; at Mines her research interest was in novel treatment methods for pediatric growth-plate fractures.

Marchando's community service also set her apart as she volunteered hundreds of hours to various causes and programs, including extensive involvement in SAAC initiatives like the Holiday Toy Drive, the Canned Food Drive, elementary school reading programs, and Special Olympics partnerships. Marchando served as the Mines SAAC president and was the RMAC SAAC Vice Chair in 2020-21, as well as the Mines Undergraduate Student Government At-Large Representative to the Faculty, a Peer Mentor, and Oredigger Camp counselor.