University of Minnesota Athletics
Big Ten Honors
Big Ten Directors of Athletics approved a recommendation of the sports information directors to establish a Big Ten Athlete of the Year beginning in 1982. Indiana track performer Jim Spivey was the initial award winner. In 1983, the Directors of Athletics approved a separate athlete of the year award for women’s athletics. The Big Ten Athletes of the Year are selected by a panel of conference media members from nominations submitted by each institution.
| Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year | ||
 John Roethlisberger Gymnastics 1993 |
 Jordan Leopold Hockey 2002 |
 Damion Hahn Wrestling 2004 |
 Cole Konrad Wrestling 2007 |
 Gable Steveson Wrestling 2022 |
|
| Female Athlete of the Year | ||
 Gretchen Hegener Swimming & Diving 1997 |
 Amanda Kessel Hockey 2013 |
 Rachel Banham Basketball 2016 |
 Sarah Bacon Diving 2021 |
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Big Ten Medal of Honor
One of the most prestigious conference awards in college athletics, the Big Ten Medal of Honor was first awarded in 1915 to one student-athlete from the graduating class of each university who had “attained the greatest proficiency in athletics and scholastic work.”
The 14 institutions of the Big Ten Conference feature more than 8,200 student-athletes and only 28 of those individuals are recognized each year with the Big Ten Medal of Honor.
The Big Ten Medal of Honor was the first award in intercollegiate athletics to demonstrate support for the educational emphasis placed on athletics.
It was acclaimed throughout the nation, and in particular by the NCAA “as one of the significant gestures yet made in college sports.” The Big Ten Medal of Honor was expanded in 1982 to include one female student-athlete from each institution. In 2014, the conference celebrated the 100th anniversary of this prestigious award.
| Minnesota Receipients | |
| 1915 | Boles A. Rosenthal, football/track & field |
| 1916 | Bernard W. Bierman, football, basketball/track & field |
| 1917 | Joseph M. Sprafka, football/track & field |
| 1918 | George W. Hauser, football/track & field |
| 1919 | Erling S. Platou, basketball/track & field |
| 1920 | Norman W. Kingsley, football/basketball/track & field |
| 1921 | Neal A. Arnston, football/basketball |
| 1922 | Arnold Oss, basketball/track & field/football |
| 1923 | Rudolph Hultkrans, basketball/football/track & field |
| 1924 | Earl Martineau, football/track & field |
| 1925 | Louis Gross, football/track & field |
| 1926 | Raymond F. Rasey, basketball/baseball |
| 1927 | Roger Wheeler, football/basketball |
| 1928 | Malvin J. Nydahl, baseball/football/basketball |
| 1929 | George E. MacKinnon, basketball/football/track & field |
| 1930 | Robert Tanner, football/basketball/baseball |
| 1931 | Lowell Marsh, swimming & diving |
| 1932 | Earl W. Loose, basketball/baseball |
| 1933 | Kenneth Gay, football/baseball |
| 1934 | Marshall Wells, football |
| 1935 | Robert Tanner, football |
| 1936 | Glenn Seidel, football/hockey |
| 1937 | Charles "Bud" Wilkinson, football/hockey/golf |
| 1938 | Dominic Krezowski, track & field/football |
| 1939 | John A. Kundla, basketball/baseball |
| 1940 | Harold Van Every, football/basketball |
| 1941 | George Franck, football/track & field |
| 1942 | Eugene Flick, football/baseball |
| 1943 | Christie Geankoplis, tennis |
| 1944 | Stuart A. Olson, baseball |
| 1945 | Arnold Lehrman, baseball/basketball |
| 1946 | John Adams, tennis/hockey |
| 1947 | Robert Sandberg, football |
| 1948 | Steve Silianoff, football |
| 1949 | James B. Peterson, gymnastics/track & field |
| 1950 | Richard S. Kilty, track & field/cross country |
| 1951 | Myer U. Skoog, basketball |
| 1952 | Richard K. Means, basketball/tennis |
| 1953 | Robert D. Gelle, basketball/football |
| 1954 | Paul R. Giel, football/baseball |
| 1955 | Charles J. Mencel, basketball |
| 1956 | Darrell R. Cochran, baseball/football |
| 1957 | Robert D. Hobert, football |
| 1958 | John W. McCartan, hockey/baseball |
| 1959 | Perry Gehring, football |
| 1960 | Orville Peterson, swimming & diving |
| 1961 | Robert J. Schwarzkopf, gymnastics |
| 1962 | James A. Fischer, track & field |
| 1963 | Robert J. Bateman, basketball |
| 1964 | Arthur (Bill) Davis, baseball/basketball |
| 1965 | Walter P. Richardson, swimming & diving |
| 1966 | Paul T. Faust, football |
| 1967 | Thomas G. Heinonen, track & field/cross country |
| 1968 | Gary A. Gambucci, hockey |
| 1969 | Noel C. Jenke, football/hockey/baseball |
| 1970 | David A. Cosgrove, baseball |
| 1971 | Wally Olds, hockey |
| 1972 | Craig Lincoln, swimming & diving |
| 1973 | James T. Brewer, basketball |
| 1974 | Garry Bjorklund, cross country/track & field |
| 1975 | Michael T. Polich, hockey |
| 1976 | Jeffrey N. LaFleur, gymnastics |
| 1977 | Tony Dungy, football |
| 1978 | Timothy J. LaFleur, gymnastics |
| 1979 | Bill Baker, hockey |
| 1980 | Dan Zilverberg, wrestling |
| 1981 | Thomas Lehman, golf |
| 1982 | Brian Meeker, gymnastics |
| Chris Curry-Gentz, swimming & diving | |
| 1983 | Randy Breuer, basketball |
| Jill Halsted, volleyball | |
| 1984 | Joey Ray, gymnastics |
| Nancy Harris, golf | |
| 1985 | Dave Morrison, track & field/cross country |
| Jocelyn Smith, golf | |
| 1986 | Ron Backes, track & field |
| Jody Eder, cross country/track & field | |
| 1987 | Collin Godkin, gymnastics |
| Sue Roell, swimming & diving | |
| 1988 | Paul Gisselquist, cross country/track & field |
| Rochele Goetz, volleyball | |
| 1989 | Mike Zechmeister, swimming & diving |
| Kate Hughes, golf | |
| 1990 | Chuck Heise, wrestling |
| Marie Roethlisberger, gymnastics | |
| 1991 | Marty Morgan, wrestling |
| Rachel Lewis, track & field | |
| 1992 | Scott Tripps, swimming & diving |
| Uta Herrmann, swimming & diving | |
| 1993 | John Roethlisberger, gymnastics |
| Laura Herman, swimming & diving | |
| 1994 | Martin Eriksson, track & field |
| Carol Ann Shudick, basketball | |
| 1995 | Brian Yee, gymnastics |
| Kara Martin, swimming & diving | |
| 1996 | Bernie Zeruhn, swimming & diving |
| Lori Townsend, track & field | |
| 1997 | Matt Schlessman, swimming & diving |
| Katrien DeDecker, volleyball | |
| 1998 | Brandon Paulson, wrestling |
| Jennifer McElmury, soccer | |
| 1999 | Tim Hartung, wrestling |
| Shannon Beeler, softball | |
| 2000 | Brandon Eggum, wrestling |
| Terri Jashinsky, swimming & diving | |
| 2001 | Ben Hamilton, football |
| Aubrey Schmitt, track & field | |
| 2002 | Owen Elzen, wrestling |
| Lindsey Berg, volleyball | |
| 2003 | Jared Lawrence, wrestling |
| Shani Marks, track & field | |
| 2004 | Adam Steele, track & field |
| Cassie Busse, volleyball | |
| 2005 | Guillermo Alvarez, gymnastics |
| Lindsey Taatjes, volleyball | |
| 2006 | Greg Eslinger, football |
| Laura Johnson, gymnastics | |
| 2007 | Matt Spaeth, football |
| Emily Brown, cross country/track & field | |
| 2008 | C.P. Schlatter, wrestling |
| Liz Podominick, track and field | |
| 2009 | Matthew Nohelty, baseball |
| Jenny Shaughnessy, swimming & diving | |
| 2010 | Jayson Ness, wrestling |
| Heather Dorniden, track & field | |
| 2011 | Mike Thorn, wrestling |
| Kaylee Jamison, swimming & diving | |
| 2012 | David Pachuta, track & field |
| Anne Schleper, ice hockey | |
| 2013 | Quentin Mege, track & field |
| Noora Räty, ice hockey | |
| 2014 | Derek Toomey, swimming & diving |
| Sara Moulton, softball | |
| 2015 | Kyle Rau, ice hockey |
| Jessica Plant, swimming & diving | |
| 2016 | Aaron Bartnik, cross country/track & field |
| Hannah Brandt, ice hockey | |
| 2017 | Luca Wieland, track & field |
| Lee Stecklein, ice hockey | |
| 2018 | Derek Wiebke, cross country/track & field |
| Carlie Wagner, basketball | |
| 2019 | Justin Karstadt, gymnastics |
| Temi Ogunrinde, track & field | |
| 2020 | Carter Coughlin, football |
| Ivy Lue, gymnastics | |
| 2021 | Jack LaFontaine, ice hockey |
| Sarah Bacon, swimming & diving | |
| 2022 | Gable Steveson, wrestling |
| Bethany Hasz, cross country/track & field | |
| 2023 | John Michael Schmitz, football |
| Taylor Heise, ice hockey | |
| 2024 | Isaiah Salazar, wrestling |
| Gianna Gerdes, gymnastics | |
| 2025 | Dawson Garcia, basketball |
| Mya Hooten, gymnastics | |
Outstanding Sportsmanship Award Winners
Beginning in 2003, the conference instituted the Big Ten Sportsmanship Awards. One member of each varsity sports team on every campus is nominated by the institution and two Outstanding Sportsmanship Award winners are selected from each school. The student-athletes chosen shall be individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, the student-athletes must be in good academic standing and must have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.
| Minnesota Recipients | |
| 2003 | C.J. Woodrow, baseball |
| Lindsay Whalen, basketball | |
| 2004 | Ben Johnson, basketball |
| Lindsay Whalen, basketball | |
| 2005 | Brent Lawson, basketball |
| Sarah Hesser, track & field | |
| 2006 | Adam Boone, basketball |
| Chelsey Brodt, ice hockey | |
| 2007 | Matt Spaeth, football |
| Danielle Mousseau, tennis | |
| 2008 | Amir Pinnix, football |
| Kelly Roysland, volleyball | |
| 2009 | Jamal Abu-Shamala, basketball |
| Ladia Albertson-Junkans, track & field | |
| 2010 | Jayson Ness, wrestling |
| Gabriele Anderson, track & field | |
| 2011 | Blake Hoffarber, basketball |
| Dannie Skrove, softball | |
| 2012 | Taylor Matson, ice hockey |
| Anne Schleper, ice hockey | |
| 2013 | Andre Hollins, basketball |
| Allie Phillips, soccer | |
| 2014 | Nate Condon, ice hockey |
| Hannah Brandt, ice hockey | |
| 2015 | Cedric Thompson, football |
| Kate Bucknam, cross country | |
| 2016 | Joey King, basketball |
| Paige Palkovich, softball | |
| 2017 | Bakary Konate, basketball |
| Temi Ogunrinde, track & field | |
| 2018 | Mike Szmatula, ice hockey |
| Sidney Peters, ice hockey | |
| 2019 | Matthew Rosen, track & field |
| Taylor Williamson, ice hockey | |
| 2020 | Winston DeLattiboudere, football |
| Sarah Werking, cross country/track & field | |
| 2021 | Casey O'Brien, football |
| Carlie Brandt, softball | |
| 2022 | Eric Curry, basketball |
| Abbie Nylin, gymnastics | |
| 2023 | Tanner Morgan, football |
| CC McGraw, volleyball | |
| 2024 | Parker Fox, basketball |
| Katie Horak, gymnastics | |
| 2025 | Danny Striggow, football |
| Audrey Wethington, ice hockey | |