Big Ten Sportsmanship Award Recipients

June 4, 2008

EVANSTON, Ill. - Twenty-two student-athletes have been named Outstanding Sportsmanship Award winners for the 2007-08 academic year by the Big Ten Conference. Tonjua Jones of the football program was recognized as Northwestern's men's recipient, while Christy Finch of the lacrosse team received the women's honor.

The selected individuals were chosen from a group of 275 student-athletes honored throughout the academic year who had displayed positive sportsmanship.

One member of each varsity sports team on every campus was chosen by his or her institution as a Sportsmanship Award honoree. From each university's list, two Outstanding Sportsmanship Award winners were then selected. All of the Sportsmanship Award honorees have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, theses student-athletes must be in good academic standing and must have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.

The 22 Outstanding Sportsmanship Award winners include 14 Academic All-Big Ten honorees and eight All-Big Ten selections from the 2007-08 season. In addition, Finch and Melissa Walbridge of Penn State women's volleyball led their respective squads to national championships.

The 2008 Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship Award winners appear below, and the complete list of Sportsmanship Award honorees for all sports from each school is attached as a PDF.

2008 Outstanding Sportsmanship Award Winners
Illinois
J Leman, Sr., Football
Shannon McDonnell, Sr., Women's Soccer
Indiana
Andrew Means, Jr., Baseball
Vera Neuenswander, So., Women's Track & Field
Iowa
Bart van Monsjou, Sr., Men's Tennis
Brittany Keyes, Sr., Rowing
Michigan
Michael Parke, Sr., Men's Soccer
Krista Clement, Sr., Women's Basketball
Michigan State
Drew Neitzel, Sr., Men's Basketball
Alisa Wulff, Sr., Women's Basketball
Minnesota
Amir Pinnix, Sr., Football
Kelly Roysland, Sr., Volleyball
Northwestern
Tonjua Jones, Sr., Football
Christy Finch, Sr., Lacrosse
Ohio State
Kyle Coconis, Sr., Men's Golf
Veronica Jatsek, Sr., Women's Track & Field
Penn State
Mike Walker, Sr., Men's Basketball
Melissa Walbridge, Sr., Volleyball
Purdue
Jaycen Taylor, Jr., Football
Brooke Beier, Sr., Women's Tennis
Wisconsin
Luke Swan, Sr., Football
Audra Jeffers, Jr., Volleyball