Canton, Ga. - MIT women's swimming and diving graduate Annika Naveen has been named as the Division III Commissioner's Association (D3CA) Region II Women's Sport Athlete of the Year.

Naveen is the third MIT student-athlete to earn the honor since the inception of the award in the summer of 2022. Naveen joins former MIT student-athletes Karenna Groff (women's soccer, 2022) and Matthew Kearney (men's cross country/track and field, 2023) as D3CA Regional Athletes of the Year.

In total 20 student-athletes from across the country - two (one male, one female) from each of the ten regions - were selected for the award this year. This prestigious award, now in its fifth year, recognizes graduating seniors who have demonstrated excellence in athletics, academics, leadership, and service throughout their collegiate careers.

Each regional winner now advances to the national ballot for the D3CA Men's Sport Student-Athlete of the Year and D3CA Women's Sport Student-Athlete of the Year awards, which will be announced in September.

Naveen helped lead MIT to the 2025 NCAA Division III Women's Swimming & Diving National Championship while capturing three NCAA relay national titles, earning 10 First Team All-America honors and four Second Team All-America honors during her collegiate career. A four-time NEWMAC individual champion and NCAA Elite Scholar Athlete Award recipient, Naveen established herself as one of the nation's premier student-athletes in the pool.

A Biological Engineering major with minors in Computer Science and Finance and a concentration in Science, Technology and Society, Naveen graduated with a perfect 4.00 GPA. Her academic achievements included recognition as the CSC Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year, while her undergraduate research at MIT, Boston Children's Hospital and the University of Pennsylvania resulted in multiple publications and provided opportunities to mentor fellow researchers.

Beyond her athletic and academic accomplishments, Naveen served as president of Every Nation Campus, volunteered in children's ministry and mentored undergraduate researchers. Her commitment to encouraging and investing in others reflected the values that defined her collegiate experience.