Each year, Illinois honors its top performers across all sports with schoolwide awards, including Male Player of the Year (won by men’s basketball’s Ayo Dosunmu in 2020), Female Player of the Year (won by volleyball’s Jacqueline Quade in 2020), Male Freshman of the Year (won by men’s basketball’s Kofi Cockburn in 2020) and Female Freshman of the Year (won by women’s gymnastics’ Mia Takekawa in 2020) following the conclusion of all 19 teams conclude their respective seasons.

The 2020-2021 sports season was unprecedented in countless ways, with players having to deal with COVID-19 protocols amidst an ongoing pandemic, playing without fans in the stands and competing in fewer events while sometimes competing in conference-only schedules.

In one of the most unique seasons in sports history, Illinois student athletes, coaches and athletics staff facilitated as smooth of a year as imaginable given the uncertainties in the world, and these teams will be remembered forever for everything they went through, regardless of the outcome of their season.

Illinois named its male and female Freshman of the Year nominees, so let’s go through each player and look at their accomplishments this year.

Note: Due to COVID-19-related cancellations, all NCAA athletes were granted an extra year of eligibility, meaning redshirt freshmen and sophomores who competed in their first seasons are included in this year’s awards.

Female Freshman of the Year nominees

Cara Bognar (swim and dive)

• Won the 200 butterfly and the 500 freestyle in her first college meet at Purdue on Jan. 16
• Won the 200 butterfly, the 500 freestyle and 400 individual medley in her second meet at Nebraska on Jan. 23
• Qualified for the 400 individual medley finals at the Big Ten Championships

Kate Duong (tennis)

• Went 14-8 in singles and 13-9 in doubles in her first college season
• Won her singles and doubles matches in the team’s Senior Day upset win over No. 7 Northwestern

Olivia Howell (track and field)

• Won the indoor mile event at the Big Ten Indoor Championships, earning First-Team All-Big Ten honors in the event
• Set the 1000-meter school record at the Badger Icebreaker on Jan. 16.
• Won the 1500-meter event at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, earning First-Team All-Big Ten honors in the event
• Qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 1500, placing 10th in the nation and earning Second-Team All-America honors in the event
• Set the 1500-meter school record

Aaliyah Nye (basketball)

• Started 10 games as a freshman while averaging 23 minutes, 8.1 points and 2.2 rebounds
• Was the Illini’s most reliable 3-point shooter, hitting 35.1% of her attempts from beyond the arc
• Recorded a career-high 17 points in her Big Ten tournament debut in a win over Wisconsin on March 9

Raina Terry (volleyball)

• Led the Illini in kills (210) while finishing with the third-most digs (122) and the second-most service aces (28)
• Recorded a career-high 23 kills against Maryland on March 20
• Recorded several double-doubles throughout the season, including in the team’s upset of No. 8 Purdue on April 3

Joanna Verzosa-Dolezal (soccer)

• Started all 12 games in her freshman season
• Helped the Illini keep clean sheets in her first two college games in a 1-0 win over Purdue on Feb. 18 and a 3-0 win over Iowa on Feb. 25
•  Named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team

Jaelyn Vickery (softball)

• Named to the Big Ten Second Team and the conference’s All-Freshman Team
• Hit her first college home run in a win over Purdue on April 17
• Tallied a career-high four runs batted in a win over Ohio State on May 8

Male Freshman of the Year nominees

Lucas Byrd (wrestling)

• Ended his first year as a starter with a 17-4 overall record
• Finished in fifth place in the 133-pound weight group at the NCAA Championships, earning All-America honors

Andre Curbelo (basketball)

• Award the Big Ten’s Sixth Man of the Year and named to the conference’s All-Freshman Team
• Averaged 9.1 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.2 assists in his debut season
• Finished third in the Big Ten in assists per game (4.6) during conference play
• Scored a team-high 16 points in the Big Ten tournament title game over Ohio State, giving Illinois its first conference crown since 2005

Tyler Cushing (cross country)

• Helped the Illini finish sixth at the Big Ten Championships while placing 31st at the meet with a time of 24:50
• Named to the All-Big Ten Second-Team after placing second in the distance medley relay at the Big Ten Indoor Championships
• Won the 5000-meter event at the Big Ten Invitational #2 on April 9

Hunter Heck (tennis)

• Finished the season with a 13-5 singles and a 6-9 doubles record
• Secured a comeback singles win to help the Illini secure their first Big Ten tournament title since 2015 on May 2
• Went undefeated in his last 12 singles matches to close out the season
• Picked up the Illini’s lone doubles win with partner Aleks Kovacevic against No. 2 Florida on May 17

Justin Janas (baseball)

• Earned All-Big Ten First-Team honors in his first season at Illinois
• Led the Big Ten in batting average (.391) and on-base percentage (.506 while also leading the Illini in hits (54)
• Notched a career-high five hits in a win over Iowa, becoming the first Illini to achieve that feat since 2015

Logan Myers (gymnastics)

• Earned his first college event title on parallel bars in a win over Northern Illinois on Jan. 16
• Named Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Jan. 25 after securing top-10 finishes on still rings, vault and parallel bars against Ohio State on Jan. 23

Tyler Sudduth (track and field)

• Placed eighth at the Big Ten Indoor Championships in shot put with a personal best of 58’5.75″
• Finished second at the M City Classic Meet on April 30
• Placed eighth at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships in shot put
• Finished 35th in shot put at the NCAA West Regionals

Isaiah Williams (football)

• Started four games as a redshirt freshman, making his starting debut against Rutgers on Nov. 14
• Finished the season with 393 passing yards, 389 rushing yards and five total touchdowns
• Set the program’s single-game rushing record by a quarterback after racking up 192 yards on the ground in a win over Rutgers on Nov. 14

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