Indiana University Athletics
Student-Athletes Honored at 2018 Spirit of Indiana Showcase
4/23/2018 10:13:00 PM | General, Academic Services, Student-Athlete Services
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Indiana University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics honored its student-athletes at the eighth-annual Spirit of Indiana Showcase on Monday, April 23, at the Indiana University Auditorium.
The Showcase honored student-athletes with year-end awards from 2017 and 2018. The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the Spirit of Indiana Director's Award, given by Vice President and Director of Athletics Fred Glass to two student-athletes that best represent The Spirit of Indiana: 24 Sports, 1 Team.
"The Spirit of Indiana Showcase is a wonderful opportunity for all our students, coaches and staff to come together to not only celebrate our accomplishments during the last year but also focus on our mission of 24 Sports, One Team," Glass said. "We are very proud of all of our students who have represented our department and Indiana University so well."
This year's honorees for the Director's Award are Amanda Cahill (Women's Basketball) and Michael Hixon (Men's Diving).
Cahill finished her career ranked fourth in scoring and second in rebounding at Indiana. She became the program's second back-to-back Academic All-American with a 3.92 GPA in Elementary Education. She also finished her career ranked third in double-doubles, third in 3-point field goals made, and fourth in blocks.
"Amanda is an incredible student-athlete," IU head coach Teri Moren said. "She is passionate about being the best basketball player that she can be and she's passionate about being the best student she can be. She represents Indiana in so many areas. She's a terrific ambassador of the university, a great representative of our women's basketball program and just truly loves Indiana. She's someone who we are going to miss dearly around here for a variety of different reasons. When I think of Amanda Cahill, I don't think anyone represents the university and athletics more than "B" does."
Michael Hixon capped his incredible college career this season by winning the NCAA Championship in the 1-meter dive with a score of 464.40. Michael earned two All-America honors this year for IU, giving him an astounding nine All-America accolades. The NCAA title gave Michael three for his career including the two he captured his freshman season at Texas.
For his IU career, Michael finished as a four-time Big Ten champion, a two-time Big Ten Diver of the Championships, a three-time First-Team All-Big Ten honoree and a two-time member Academic All-Big Ten team. Michael leaves Bloomington as the school record holder in both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives.
In 2016, Michael won a silver medal at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics in the 3-meter synchro and also placed 10th overall for Team USA in the 3-meter dive.
"Michael is a once in a career type of athlete for a coach," Indiana head diving coach Drew Johansen said. "He has returned IU to the Olympic podium and created a new culture of excellence in the pool and in the classroom for the program. He is so well deserving of this award."
"All Hoosier fans are well aware of the tremendous athletic accomplishments of both Amanda and Michael, both of whom will go down among the greatest to ever compete in their respective sports at Indiana University," Director of Athletics Fred Glass said. "We applaud them for those accomplishments. But the Spirit of Indiana Director's Award also recognizes their dedicated efforts in the classroom and their commitment to making our department, campus and community better through their involvement in various departmental organizations. Both of these individuals have had an immeasurable impact on their programs and the people around them."
The department also recognized the Big Ten Medal of Honor recipients. The award is given to a person who strives for excellence in both athletics and academics.
The Big Ten, the nation's oldest collegiate conference, commemorates the 104th anniversary of a very unique tradition - the Big Ten Medal of Honor. The conference's most exclusive award was the first of its kind in intercollegiate athletics to recognize academic and athletic excellence. 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." Big Ten schools currently feature almost 9,500 student-athletes, but only 28 earn this prestigious award on an annual basis. In the 104 years of the Medal of Honor, almost 1,400 student-athletes have earned this distinction.
The women's honoree this year is Tyra Buss (Women's Basketball) and the men's honoree Laren Eustace (Baseball).
Buss broke school records in points scored, steals, assists, free throws made, free throw attempts, 3-pointers attempted, and career points per game. She finished the season as the nation's leader in minutes played and minutes played per game. Her 20.6 points per game was 21st in the nation and finished 7th overall in points scored (763). Ranked top 10 in the nation in free throws attempted (5th, 259) and free throws made (10th). Buss earned Academic All-Big Ten honors for the third time in her career.
Eustace, a senior, has played in 142 career games for the Hoosiers, making 57 starts. He has tallied 14 extra-base hits in his career, including three home runs, two triples, and nine doubles. In addition to his 50 runs scored and 25 career RBI, the Batavia, Ill.- native has tallied 19 stolen bases and a .991 fielding percentage. Eustace is majoring in business at Indiana.
In addition to the Spirit of Indiana Director's Award and Big Ten Medal of Honor, the following honors were presented:
Spirit of Indiana Director's Award (given to two senior student-athletes, which best represent The Spirit of Indiana: 24 Sports, One Team):
Amanda Cahill (Women's Basketball)
Michael Hixon (Men's Diving)
Anita Aldrich Leadership Award (which recognizes a female student-athlete for best exemplifying Anita Aldrich's ideals of leadership, scholastic achievement and athletic ability among all female student-athletes):
Rebecca Blitz (Softball)
Jake Gimble Award (given to a senior male student-athlete who has distinguished himself in athletics and scholarship and who has displayed an outstanding mental attitude):
Jack Griffith (Men's Soccer)
Jack D. Tichenor Award (which is given to a male and female student-athlete with the highest grade point average across all sports):
Maddie Pierce (Rowing)
Levi Brock (Men's Swimming)
Big Ten Medal of Honor
Tyra Buss (Women's Basketball)
Laren Eustace (Baseball)
Indiana Athletes of the Year
Lilly King (Women's Swimming)
Tegray Scales (Football)
24 Sports, 1 Team Program of Excellence
Field Hockey
Scholastic Achievement Award
Men's Swimming (Levi Brock)
Rowing (Maddie Pierce)
Women's Soccer (Abigail Allen)
Men's Cross Country (Adam Wallace)
Softball (Aimilia McDonough)
Women's Basketball (Amanda Cahill)
Women's Track and Field (Brenna Calder)
Wrestling (Buddy Conley)
Men's Diving (James Connor)
Volleyball (Jessica Leish)
Men's Basketball (Johnny Jager)
Baseball (Jonathan Stiever)
Men's Soccer (Josh Lipe-Melton)
Field Hockey (Katie Johnson)
Women's Cross Country (Kelsey Harris)
Men's Track and Field (Kyle Mau)
Men's Tennis (Matthew McCoy)
Women's Tennis (Natalie Whalen)
Women's Golf (Pear Siriko)
Women's Swimming (Sam Lisy)
Water Polo (Sarah Myers)
Men's Golf (Trevor Ranton)
Football (Wes Martin)
Hoosier Award (which recognizes a student-athlete for bringing honor and distinction to Indiana University in their representative sport during the academic year):
Tyra Buss
Katherine Receveur
Jessica Parratto
Maddie Latino
Mary Parsons
Maddie Pierce
Mykayla Brown
Emily Kirk
Lilly King
Caitlin Bernard
Kelsey Harris
Elizabeth Asdell
Jessica Gaudreault
Jonathan Stiever
Juwan Morgan
Ben Veatch
Michael Hixon
Tegray Scales
Brendon Doyle
Grant Lillard
Vini Lanza
Zac Brodney
Daniel Kuhn
Treyton Harris
Cole Weaver
IU Sportsmanship Award (which recognizes student-athletes from each sport for demonstrating outstanding sportsmanship in their respective sport throughout the year):
Amanda Cahill
Lexa Barrott
Taylor Carter
Katie Johnson
Pear Siriko
Connie Brahm
Caroline Dreher
Rebecca Blitz
Rachel Matsumura
Xiwei Cai
Aaliyah Armstead
Khayla Dawson
Jessica Admire
Emily Powell
Laren Eustace
Collin Hartman
Kyle Mau
Cody Coldren
Wes Martin
Christian Fairbanks
Jeremiah Gutjahr
Levi Brock
Bennett Crane
Adam Coulon
Jordan Huntoon
Bryce Martin
Aline Robinson Mental Attitude Award (which recognizes female student-athletes for their mental attitude and distinguished performance in athletics and academics on their respective team):
Bendu Yeaney
Brenna Calder
Ellie Hempt
Mary Parsons
Elizabeth Saunders
Chandra Davidson
Gabbi Jenkins
Kennedy Goss
Madison Appel
Leah Moran
Kendell Wiles
Hayden Huybers
Sarah Myers
Hoosier HEROES (peer mentors who help with the transition to college life for first-year student-athletes):
Leslie Beatty
Cassidy Blacha
Rebecca Blitz
Bobby Browning
Amanda Cahill
Marie Chamberlain
Reagan Cook
Paul Galas
Katie Johnson
Kylie Kirk
Maddie Latino
Jessica Leish
Sam Lisy
Emily Lowe
Francesco Moore
Mackenzie Rosenthal
Kayla Smith
Trevor Swartz
Sarah Young
Athletic Director's Council on Diversity and Inclusion
Taylor Swope
Deyshia Lofton
Christian Fairbanks
Amanda Cahill
Mackenzie Rosenthal
Nick Westbrook
Rebecca Blitz
Jeyland Valentin
Paul Galas
Juwan Morgan
Oliver Patrouch
Bayasglan Batsaikhan
Emma Fisher
James Conor
Spencer Irick
Rashad Hyacenth
Raheel Manji
Pauline Jahren
Holly Spears
Caroline Dreher
Jeremy Houston
Leadership & Life Skills Excellence Academy Certificate Honorees
Eric Bethea
Katie Johnson
Megan Grabowski
Paul Galas
2017-18 SAAC Leadership
Paul Galas, President
Taylor Uden
Marie Chamberlain
Maddie Pierce
Allison Jorden
Big Ten Athletes of the Year
Grant Lillard: Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year (Men's Soccer)
Ian Finnerty: Big Ten Swimmer of the Year (Men's Swimming)
Katherine Receveur: Big Ten Athlete of the Year (Women's Cross Country)
Sydney Clute: Field Athlete of the Year (Women's Track and Field)
Lilly King: Big Ten Athlete of the Year (Women's Swimming)
Big Ten Championships
Men's Swimming and Diving
WNIT Champions
Women's Basketball
NCAA Champions
Men's Swimming and Diving
Ian Finnerty
Michael Hixon
Gabriel Fantoni
Vini Lanza
Blake Pieroni
Women's Swimming and Diving
Lilly King
Spring 2017/Fall 2018/Winter 2018 All-Americans
Track and Field
Daniel Kuhn
Kyle Mau
Treyton Harris
Andrew Miller
Joe Murphy
Zubin Muncherji
Teddy Browning
Willie Morrison
Men's Soccer
Grant Lillard
Andrew Gutman
Men's Swimming and Diving
Bruno Blaskovic
Levi Brock
Andrew Capobianco
James Conor
Gabriel Fantoni
Ian Finnerty
Michael Hixon
Ali Khalafalla
Vini Lanza
Blake Pieroni
Rowing
Emily Barber
Women's Cross Country
Katherine Receveur
Women's Track and Field
Brenna Calder
Natalie Price
Kelsey Harris
Katherine Receveur
Sydney Clute
Women's Swimming and Diving
Lilly King
Jessica Parratto
Kennedy Goss
Grace Haskett
Christine Jensen
Ali Rockett
Freshmen All-Americans: Men's Soccer
Mason Toye
Griffin Dorsey
Trey Muse
CoSIDA Academic All-American – Amanda Cahill
The Showcase honored student-athletes with year-end awards from 2017 and 2018. The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the Spirit of Indiana Director's Award, given by Vice President and Director of Athletics Fred Glass to two student-athletes that best represent The Spirit of Indiana: 24 Sports, 1 Team.
"The Spirit of Indiana Showcase is a wonderful opportunity for all our students, coaches and staff to come together to not only celebrate our accomplishments during the last year but also focus on our mission of 24 Sports, One Team," Glass said. "We are very proud of all of our students who have represented our department and Indiana University so well."
This year's honorees for the Director's Award are Amanda Cahill (Women's Basketball) and Michael Hixon (Men's Diving).
Cahill finished her career ranked fourth in scoring and second in rebounding at Indiana. She became the program's second back-to-back Academic All-American with a 3.92 GPA in Elementary Education. She also finished her career ranked third in double-doubles, third in 3-point field goals made, and fourth in blocks.
"Amanda is an incredible student-athlete," IU head coach Teri Moren said. "She is passionate about being the best basketball player that she can be and she's passionate about being the best student she can be. She represents Indiana in so many areas. She's a terrific ambassador of the university, a great representative of our women's basketball program and just truly loves Indiana. She's someone who we are going to miss dearly around here for a variety of different reasons. When I think of Amanda Cahill, I don't think anyone represents the university and athletics more than "B" does."
Michael Hixon capped his incredible college career this season by winning the NCAA Championship in the 1-meter dive with a score of 464.40. Michael earned two All-America honors this year for IU, giving him an astounding nine All-America accolades. The NCAA title gave Michael three for his career including the two he captured his freshman season at Texas.
For his IU career, Michael finished as a four-time Big Ten champion, a two-time Big Ten Diver of the Championships, a three-time First-Team All-Big Ten honoree and a two-time member Academic All-Big Ten team. Michael leaves Bloomington as the school record holder in both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives.
In 2016, Michael won a silver medal at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics in the 3-meter synchro and also placed 10th overall for Team USA in the 3-meter dive.
"Michael is a once in a career type of athlete for a coach," Indiana head diving coach Drew Johansen said. "He has returned IU to the Olympic podium and created a new culture of excellence in the pool and in the classroom for the program. He is so well deserving of this award."
"All Hoosier fans are well aware of the tremendous athletic accomplishments of both Amanda and Michael, both of whom will go down among the greatest to ever compete in their respective sports at Indiana University," Director of Athletics Fred Glass said. "We applaud them for those accomplishments. But the Spirit of Indiana Director's Award also recognizes their dedicated efforts in the classroom and their commitment to making our department, campus and community better through their involvement in various departmental organizations. Both of these individuals have had an immeasurable impact on their programs and the people around them."
The department also recognized the Big Ten Medal of Honor recipients. The award is given to a person who strives for excellence in both athletics and academics.
The Big Ten, the nation's oldest collegiate conference, commemorates the 104th anniversary of a very unique tradition - the Big Ten Medal of Honor. The conference's most exclusive award was the first of its kind in intercollegiate athletics to recognize academic and athletic excellence. 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." Big Ten schools currently feature almost 9,500 student-athletes, but only 28 earn this prestigious award on an annual basis. In the 104 years of the Medal of Honor, almost 1,400 student-athletes have earned this distinction.
The women's honoree this year is Tyra Buss (Women's Basketball) and the men's honoree Laren Eustace (Baseball).
Buss broke school records in points scored, steals, assists, free throws made, free throw attempts, 3-pointers attempted, and career points per game. She finished the season as the nation's leader in minutes played and minutes played per game. Her 20.6 points per game was 21st in the nation and finished 7th overall in points scored (763). Ranked top 10 in the nation in free throws attempted (5th, 259) and free throws made (10th). Buss earned Academic All-Big Ten honors for the third time in her career.
Eustace, a senior, has played in 142 career games for the Hoosiers, making 57 starts. He has tallied 14 extra-base hits in his career, including three home runs, two triples, and nine doubles. In addition to his 50 runs scored and 25 career RBI, the Batavia, Ill.- native has tallied 19 stolen bases and a .991 fielding percentage. Eustace is majoring in business at Indiana.
In addition to the Spirit of Indiana Director's Award and Big Ten Medal of Honor, the following honors were presented:
Spirit of Indiana Director's Award (given to two senior student-athletes, which best represent The Spirit of Indiana: 24 Sports, One Team):
Amanda Cahill (Women's Basketball)
Michael Hixon (Men's Diving)
Anita Aldrich Leadership Award (which recognizes a female student-athlete for best exemplifying Anita Aldrich's ideals of leadership, scholastic achievement and athletic ability among all female student-athletes):
Rebecca Blitz (Softball)
Jake Gimble Award (given to a senior male student-athlete who has distinguished himself in athletics and scholarship and who has displayed an outstanding mental attitude):
Jack Griffith (Men's Soccer)
Jack D. Tichenor Award (which is given to a male and female student-athlete with the highest grade point average across all sports):
Maddie Pierce (Rowing)
Levi Brock (Men's Swimming)
Big Ten Medal of Honor
Tyra Buss (Women's Basketball)
Laren Eustace (Baseball)
Indiana Athletes of the Year
Lilly King (Women's Swimming)
Tegray Scales (Football)
24 Sports, 1 Team Program of Excellence
Field Hockey
Scholastic Achievement Award
Men's Swimming (Levi Brock)
Rowing (Maddie Pierce)
Women's Soccer (Abigail Allen)
Men's Cross Country (Adam Wallace)
Softball (Aimilia McDonough)
Women's Basketball (Amanda Cahill)
Women's Track and Field (Brenna Calder)
Wrestling (Buddy Conley)
Men's Diving (James Connor)
Volleyball (Jessica Leish)
Men's Basketball (Johnny Jager)
Baseball (Jonathan Stiever)
Men's Soccer (Josh Lipe-Melton)
Field Hockey (Katie Johnson)
Women's Cross Country (Kelsey Harris)
Men's Track and Field (Kyle Mau)
Men's Tennis (Matthew McCoy)
Women's Tennis (Natalie Whalen)
Women's Golf (Pear Siriko)
Women's Swimming (Sam Lisy)
Water Polo (Sarah Myers)
Men's Golf (Trevor Ranton)
Football (Wes Martin)
Hoosier Award (which recognizes a student-athlete for bringing honor and distinction to Indiana University in their representative sport during the academic year):
Tyra Buss
Katherine Receveur
Jessica Parratto
Maddie Latino
Mary Parsons
Maddie Pierce
Mykayla Brown
Emily Kirk
Lilly King
Caitlin Bernard
Kelsey Harris
Elizabeth Asdell
Jessica Gaudreault
Jonathan Stiever
Juwan Morgan
Ben Veatch
Michael Hixon
Tegray Scales
Brendon Doyle
Grant Lillard
Vini Lanza
Zac Brodney
Daniel Kuhn
Treyton Harris
Cole Weaver
IU Sportsmanship Award (which recognizes student-athletes from each sport for demonstrating outstanding sportsmanship in their respective sport throughout the year):
Amanda Cahill
Lexa Barrott
Taylor Carter
Katie Johnson
Pear Siriko
Connie Brahm
Caroline Dreher
Rebecca Blitz
Rachel Matsumura
Xiwei Cai
Aaliyah Armstead
Khayla Dawson
Jessica Admire
Emily Powell
Laren Eustace
Collin Hartman
Kyle Mau
Cody Coldren
Wes Martin
Christian Fairbanks
Jeremiah Gutjahr
Levi Brock
Bennett Crane
Adam Coulon
Jordan Huntoon
Bryce Martin
Aline Robinson Mental Attitude Award (which recognizes female student-athletes for their mental attitude and distinguished performance in athletics and academics on their respective team):
Bendu Yeaney
Brenna Calder
Ellie Hempt
Mary Parsons
Elizabeth Saunders
Chandra Davidson
Gabbi Jenkins
Kennedy Goss
Madison Appel
Leah Moran
Kendell Wiles
Hayden Huybers
Sarah Myers
Hoosier HEROES (peer mentors who help with the transition to college life for first-year student-athletes):
Leslie Beatty
Cassidy Blacha
Rebecca Blitz
Bobby Browning
Amanda Cahill
Marie Chamberlain
Reagan Cook
Paul Galas
Katie Johnson
Kylie Kirk
Maddie Latino
Jessica Leish
Sam Lisy
Emily Lowe
Francesco Moore
Mackenzie Rosenthal
Kayla Smith
Trevor Swartz
Sarah Young
Athletic Director's Council on Diversity and Inclusion
Taylor Swope
Deyshia Lofton
Christian Fairbanks
Amanda Cahill
Mackenzie Rosenthal
Nick Westbrook
Rebecca Blitz
Jeyland Valentin
Paul Galas
Juwan Morgan
Oliver Patrouch
Bayasglan Batsaikhan
Emma Fisher
James Conor
Spencer Irick
Rashad Hyacenth
Raheel Manji
Pauline Jahren
Holly Spears
Caroline Dreher
Jeremy Houston
Leadership & Life Skills Excellence Academy Certificate Honorees
Eric Bethea
Katie Johnson
Megan Grabowski
Paul Galas
2017-18 SAAC Leadership
Paul Galas, President
Taylor Uden
Marie Chamberlain
Maddie Pierce
Allison Jorden
Big Ten Athletes of the Year
Grant Lillard: Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year (Men's Soccer)
Ian Finnerty: Big Ten Swimmer of the Year (Men's Swimming)
Katherine Receveur: Big Ten Athlete of the Year (Women's Cross Country)
Sydney Clute: Field Athlete of the Year (Women's Track and Field)
Lilly King: Big Ten Athlete of the Year (Women's Swimming)
Big Ten Championships
Men's Swimming and Diving
WNIT Champions
Women's Basketball
NCAA Champions
Men's Swimming and Diving
Ian Finnerty
Michael Hixon
Gabriel Fantoni
Vini Lanza
Blake Pieroni
Women's Swimming and Diving
Lilly King
Spring 2017/Fall 2018/Winter 2018 All-Americans
Track and Field
Daniel Kuhn
Kyle Mau
Treyton Harris
Andrew Miller
Joe Murphy
Zubin Muncherji
Teddy Browning
Willie Morrison
Men's Soccer
Grant Lillard
Andrew Gutman
Men's Swimming and Diving
Bruno Blaskovic
Levi Brock
Andrew Capobianco
James Conor
Gabriel Fantoni
Ian Finnerty
Michael Hixon
Ali Khalafalla
Vini Lanza
Blake Pieroni
Rowing
Emily Barber
Women's Cross Country
Katherine Receveur
Women's Track and Field
Brenna Calder
Natalie Price
Kelsey Harris
Katherine Receveur
Sydney Clute
Women's Swimming and Diving
Lilly King
Jessica Parratto
Kennedy Goss
Grace Haskett
Christine Jensen
Ali Rockett
Freshmen All-Americans: Men's Soccer
Mason Toye
Griffin Dorsey
Trey Muse
CoSIDA Academic All-American – Amanda Cahill
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