Junior Payton Murphy from Western Michigan University, Bentley University senior Emily Sweet and senior Lauren Thibodeau from the University of Louisville are named finalists for the Honda Inspiration Award as announced by Judy Sweet, CWSA Board Member and Chair of The Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA) Inspiration Award committee.

The Honda Inspiration Award winner for the Class of 2022 will be selected from these three finalists by the CWSA Board of Directors and honored with the Class of 2022. On June 20, 8:30 pm ET, CBS Sports Network will air Defying the Odds: The 2022 Honda Inspiration Award – a special telecast highlighting the three finalists.

“There were many strong nominations for the 2021 Inspiration Award, and each had a truly inspiring story,” said Sweet. “The three finalists demonstrated strength, resiliency, determination and success in overcoming significant health challenges and ongoing adversities.”

An Inspiration Award winner has been selected annually for the past 34 years. The Honda Inspiration Award is given to a deserving female student-athlete in Division I, II or III who has experienced extraordinary physical and/or emotional adversity, injury and/or illness, or experienced extraordinary personal sacrifice during her college enrollment as a student-athlete and yet returns to athletic success.

The Class of 2022 Honda Inspiration Award winner will be announced in June and will be honored with the Class of 2022 on a live telecast on CBS Sports Network on June 27th at 9 pm EST.

Jean Lenti Ponsetto, Chair of the CWSA Board of Directors stated, "Once again, the Honda Inspiration Award finalists show us that a competitive heart and spirit personifies grace and courage when confronted with the most insurmountable adversity.“

Here are their inspiring stories.

Payton Murphy, Junior, Western Michigan University, Gymnastics

On January 7th, 2020, just two days after her collegiate gymnastics debut where she took home the all-around title against Michigan State University, Payton Murphy suffered a catastrophic season ending injury.

While performing her double-tuck bar dismount at practice, Payton fell off the bar (an approximately nine-foot fall) landing with her neck in a hyper flexed position. She subsequently fractured her vertebra in four different locations in addition to damaging the cervical joint.

After graduating from a neck brace, she slowly returned to the sport while also dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. After a long process of recovery, by December 2021, she had all her routines back and also learned a new bar dismount.

Emily Sweet, Senior, Bentley University, Swimming

Emily Sweet was diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in January 2021. She stayed at home as Covid-19 was at its peak and classes were remote and returned to campus in the Spring while undergoing chemo treatments. Emily returned to swimming only to have her cancer reoccur in October.

Despite the change in her prognosis, she attended all trainings and practices even after the nauseating and weakening effects of the chemotherapy. After two bouts of cancer and a stem cell transplant, she triumphantly returned to competition.

Lauren Thibodeau, Senior, University of Louisville, Golf

In the summer of 2019 Lauren Thibodeau was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. In December 2020, she became ill and spent 55 days in the hospital. Her first diagnosis was severe ulcerative colitis, but none of the treatments worked and on Christmas Day 2020 her health continued to decline.

While enduring her last treatment option before having to remove her colon, she began to experience severe neurological symptoms and was diagnosed with medical Catatonia, a condition caused when the chemistry of the brain gets off. There were times when she didn’t know who she was or who her family was while doctors scrambled to help. She underwent an out of the box Electric Convulsive Therapy which miraculously helped. However, at the end of March her hemoglobin count dropped dangerously low, and she spent three nights in the hospital undergoing five blood transfusions.

Once finally able to put her medical struggles behind her, Lauren went back to golf competitions in June 2021 and won the New Hampshire State Amateur Championship in August 2021. She competed for Louisville this year and just closed her season at the 2022 NCAA Albuquerque Regionals.

The CWSA, celebrating its 46th anniversary year, has honored the nation’s top NCAA women athletes for their superior athletic skills, leadership, academic excellence and eagerness to participate in community service.  Since commencing its partnership in 1986, Honda has provided more than $3.4 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees to support women’s athletics programs. 

About Honda Corporate Social Responsibility

For more than 60 years in the U.S., Honda has been committed to making positive contributions to the communities where its associates live and work. Honda’s mission is to create products and services that improve the lives of people while conducting its business in a sustainable manner and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. Accordingly, Honda believes in helping people reach their life’s potential through its focus on the areas of education, the environment, mobility, traffic safety and community. Learn more at http://csr.honda.com/.