Indiana’s King and Ohio State’s Snyder Repeat as Big Ten Athletes of the Year

by | Jun 28, 2018 | Headlines, RRSN News | 0 comments

Indiana’s King and Ohio State’s Snyder Repeat as Big Ten Athletes of the Year
Indiana women’s swimmer and Ohio State wrestler claim honors

ROSEMONT, Ill. – Indiana women’s swimmer Lilly King was honored as the Big Ten Female Athlete of the Year and Ohio State wrestler Kyle Snyder was recognized as the 2018 Big Ten Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year, the conference announced on Thursday. Both are repeat winners from 2017.

King became the first female in Indiana’s history to claim Big Athlete of the Year honors in 2017. In 2018, the junior was honored as the Big Ten Swimmer of the Year for the third-consecutive year. King also won the NCAA Championship in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke for the third year in row, collecting a total of four All-America accolades in 2018. King captured the Big Ten Championship in the 100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard breaststroke, 200-yard medley relay and 400-yard medley relay. The two-time 2016 Olympic gold medalist is a 12-time All-America honoree, six-time NCAA Champion and 12-time Big Ten Champion in her career with the Hoosiers. King has been an Academic All-Big Ten selection in each of the last two years.

Snyder is the first student in Big Ten history to repeat as Male Athlete of the Year. His 2018 honor marks the sixth time a Buckeye has won the award. The senior captured his third-consecutive NCAA Championship, winning the 285-pound title in 2018. Snyder is a four-time All-American and has captured the last three Big Ten Championships in the 285-pound weight class. Snyder was named Ohio State’s male recipient of the Big Ten Medal of Honor earlier this year. The 2016 Olympic gold medalist was named the USA Olympic Male Athlete of the Year in 2017-18 as well as the AAU Sullivan Award winner. He is a two-time member of the Senior World Team. Snyder was a Second-Team CoSIDA Academic All-American in 2017 and has been named Academic All-Big Ten in each of the last four years.

King and Snyder were among a field of nominees that included 10 national champions, 26 All-Americans, 16 individual Big Ten Champions, 16 individuals who won Big Ten Player of the Year honors and five who collected a National Player of the Year accolade.

The Big Ten Conference has recognized a Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year since 1982 and first honored a Female Athlete of the Year in 1983. The Big Ten Athletes of the Year are selected by a panel of conference media members from nominations submitted by each institution.

The complete list of 2018 Athlete of the Year nominations, as well as the list of all-time winners for each award, can be found below.

2018 BIG TEN ATHLETE OF THE YEAR NOMINEES

Illinois
Bren Spillane, baseball
Jordyn Poulter, volleyball

Indiana
Ian Finnerty, swimming
Lilly King, swimming

Iowa
Josey Jewell, football
Megan Gustafson, basketball

Maryland
DJ Moore, football
Megan Whittle, lacrosse

Michigan
Ben Flanagan, cross country/track & field
Katelynn Flaherty, basketball

Michigan State
Tim Ehrhardt, track & field
Sarah Burnham, golf

Minnesota
Shane Wiskus, gymnastics
Kaitlyn Long, track & field

Nebraska
Antoine Lloyd, track & field
Kelly Hunter, volleyball

Northwestern
Justin Jackson, football
Olivia Rosendahl, diving

Ohio State
Kyle Snyder, wrestling
Kelsey Mitchell, basketball

Penn State
Saquon Barkley, football
Haleigh Washington, volleyball

Purdue
Steele Johnson, diving
Brionne Thomas, track & field

Rutgers
Michael Rexrode, lacrosse
Casey Murphy, soccer

Wisconsin
Ollie Hoare, cross country/track & field
Georgia Ellenwood, track & field

BIG TEN JESSE OWENS MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNERS
1982 – Jim Spivey, Indiana, track and field/cross country
1983 – Ed Banach, Iowa, wrestling
1984 – Sunder Nix, Indiana, track and field
1985 – Barry Davis, Iowa, wrestling
1986 – Chuck Long, Iowa, football
1987 – Steve Alford, Indiana, basketball
1988 – Jim Abbott, Michigan, baseball
1989 – Glen Rice, Michigan, basketball
1990 – Anthony Thompson, Indiana, football
1991 – Mike Barrowman, Michigan, swimming
1992 – Desmond Howard, Michigan, football
1993 – John Roethlisberger, Minnesota, gymnastics
1994 – Glenn Robinson, Purdue, basketball
1995 – Tom Dolan, Michigan, swimming
1996 – Eddie George, Ohio State, football
1997 – Blaine Wilson, Ohio State, gymnastics
1998 – Charles Woodson, Michigan, football
1999 – Luke Donald, Northwestern, golf
2000 – Ron Dayne, Wisconsin, football
2001 – Ryan Miller, Michigan State, ice hockey
2002 – Jordan Leopold, Minnesota, ice hockey
2003 – Amer Delic, Illinois, tennis (co)
2003 – Matt Lackey, Illinois, wrestling (co)
2004 – Damion Hahn, Minnesota, wrestling
2005 – Luis Vargas, Penn State, gymnastics
2006 – Peter Vanderkaay, Michigan, swimming
2007 – Cole Konrad, Minnesota, wrestling
2008 – Brent Metcalf, Iowa, wrestling
2009 – Jake Herbert, Northwestern, wrestling
2010 – Evan Turner, Ohio State, basketball
2011 – David Boudia, Purdue, diving
2012 – Draymond Green, Michigan State, basketball
2013 – Derek Drouin, Indiana, track and field
2014 – David Taylor, Penn State, wrestling
2015 – Logan Stieber, Ohio State, wrestling
2016 – Denzel Valentine, Michigan State, basketball
2017 – Kyle Snyder, Ohio State, wrestling
2018 – Kyle Snyder, Ohio State, wrestling

BIG TEN FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNERS
1983 – Judi Brown, Michigan State, track and field
1984 – Lisa Ishikawa, Northwestern, softball
1985 – Cathy Branta, Wisconsin, cross country/track
1986 – Stephanie Herbst, Wisconsin, cross country/track
1987 – Jennifer Averill, Northwestern, field hockey/lacrosse
1988 – Suzy Favor, Wisconsin, track and field/cross country
1989 – Suzy Favor, Wisconsin, track and field/cross country
1990 – Suzy Favor, Wisconsin, track and field/cross country
1991 – Julie Farrell-Ovenhouse, Michigan State, diving (co)
1991 – Joy Holmes, Purdue, basketball (co)
1992 – MaChelle Joseph, Purdue, basketball
1993 – Lara Hooiveld, Michigan, swimming
1994 – Kristy Gleason, Iowa, field hockey
1995 – Laura Davis, Ohio State, volleyball
1996 – Olga Kalinovskaya, Penn State, fencing
1997 – Kathy Butler, Wisconsin, track and field (co)
1997 – Gretchen Hegener, Minnesota, swimming (co)
1998 – Sara Griffin, Michigan, softball
1999 – Stephanie White-McCarty, Purdue, basketball
2000 – Lauren Cacciamani, Penn State, volleyball
2001 – Katie Douglas, Purdue, basketball
2002 – Christie Welsh, Penn State, soccer
2003 – Perdita Felicien, Illinois, track and field
2004 – Kelly Mazzante, Penn State, basketball
2005 – Jennie Ritter, Michigan, softball
2006 – Tiffany Weimer, Penn State, soccer
2007 – Jessica Davenport, Ohio State, basketball
2008 – Hannah Nielsen, Northwestern, lacrosse
2009 – Maria Hernandez, Purdue, golf
2010 – Megan Hodge, Penn State, volleyball
2011 – Shannon Smith, Northwestern, lacrosse
2012 – Christina Manning, Ohio State, track and field
2013 – Amanda Kessel, Minnesota, ice hockey
2014 – Dani Bunch, Purdue, track and field
2015 – Taylor Cummings, Maryland, lacrosse
2016 – Rachel Banham, Minnesota, basketball
2017 – Lilly King, Indiana, swimming
2018 – Lilly King, Indiana, swimming

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