General | May 13

DeKALB, Ill.—NIU Athletics held its annual "Victors Awards" show on Friday, May 3 in the Carl Sandburg Auditorium in the Holmes Student Center as the Huskie student-athletes came together to celebrate the accomplishments of the past year, both on and off the field. The Huskie wrestling program collected seven honors on the night while softball collected six awards.
 
Wrestling and Softball earned the Victor's Cups while James Ester of NIU Football and Alyssa Al-Ashari of Gymnastics were named Mr. and Miss Victor E. Huskie.  The Victors Cup, which is awarded to the team who epitomizes outstanding athletic, academic, personal development and community service achievement.
 
Earning Mr. Victor E. Huskie, Ester was a team captain and helped lead the Huskies to win six of their last eight games and to their first bowl victory since 2011. Ester made a career high 48 tackles in 2023 with four sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss to lead a Huskie defensive line that was one of the strongest units in the MAC. After receiving All-MAC third team honors the past two seasons, Ester was named to the All-MAC second team this season and to Phil Steele's All-MAC first team while also being named a Campbell trophy semi-finalist.
 
Al-Ashari earned Miss Victor E. Huskie, after becoming the first ever NIU Gymnast to qualify for NCAA Regionals on both bars and beam in the same year in 2023. She earned a 9.925 on beam at NCAAs and tied for third on beam. Al-Ashari earned Academic All-MAC and WCGA Scholastic All-American honors every year she has been eligible to receive the award.
 
Al-Ashari would also claim the Female Presidential Award for Academic Excellence after achieving a 4.0 semester GPA five times during her time at NIU.
 
Taking the Male Presidential Award for Academic Excellence, Ricardo Salinas is graduating with a 4.0 in Kinesiology. Salinas earned Academic All-MAC and NWCA Scholar All-American honors as he completes his undergraduate program in three years before beginning his studies for a doctorate in physical therapy.
 
The Play of the Year went to Kanon Woodhill, who had a 49-yard fake field goal attempt that he converted to a touchdown in the 2023 Camelia Bowl. It was the Huskies' first touchdown via a fake field goal since the late Mat Sims scored on a seven-yard run on the fake versus Central Michigan in 2012. It was also the first fake field goal for a score in Camellia Bowl history.
 
Blake West earned the Male Athlete of the Year, after posting an overall record of 27-6 on the during the 2023-24 season and was undefeated in dual meets and in MAC competition, posting records of 15-0 and 8-0, respectively. West became the 128th wrestler to qualify for the NCAA tournament from NIU after taking second at the MAC Championships.
 
Softball's Danielle Stewart took home the Female Athlete of the Year after an impressive freshman season in 2023. Stewart NIU with a 3.06 ERA and her 13 wins ranked fourth in the league. Stewart was named the MAC Pitcher of the Week, NFCA All-Region Third Team, MAC All-Freshman Team and All-MAC First Team.
 
Lydia Bauer was the Community Service Champion recipient after completing over 92 hours of community service this past year. Bauer split her time between the NIU Athletic Nutrition Center, the Corn Classic, and Feed My Starving Children.
 
A component of being a student-athlete at NIU is a commitment to community service and helping the DeKalb-Sycamore community. Our student-athletes have been in soup kitchens, community gardens, local schools, and more throughout the year. The Male and Female Community Service Team award winners are Wrestling and Softball.
 
Colin Summerhill of Baseball collected a pair of awards, the Male Newcomer of the Year and the MAC Medal of Excellence Male nominee. Summerhill led NIU with a .308 batting average, .585 slugging percentage, 17 doubles, 11 home runs and 54 RBI. Along with leading the Huskies in multiple statistical categories, he became the first Huskie to have more than 50 RBI since Scott Simon in 2004. Colin has continued to excel in 2024, including breaking a 21-year-old program record to become the Huskies' single-season home run leader.
 
Emily Romancew of Women's Golf was the Female MAC Medal of Excellence nominee. capped off her senior season by being named to the All MAC First Team after earning second team honors in 2023. On the season, Romancew posted a career low scoring average of 74.07 while playing in all 10 tournaments. She recorded eight Top 15 finishes and claimed medalist honors at the NAU Red Rocks Invitational in Sedona, Arizona for her first career victory.
 
The Huskie Comeback Award is given by the Athletic Training department and is awarded to an individual who exemplifies the "comeback" spirit after returning from injury. The 2024 recipient is Jacobi Jackson on Wrestling. Jackson saw back-to-back should injuries in his first two seasons before finding himself nationally ranked and went undefeated in-home dual meets this season.
 
The Female Newcomer of the Year goes to Kiley Conner of Softball. Conner showed out in her first season as a Huskie with a .363 batting average. Conner tallied three home runs and totaled 16 RBI. She was named the MAC Freshman of the Year, and was named to the All-MAC second team, and MAC All-Freshman Team.
 
The Student-Athlete Social Justice Award is awarded to an individual who serves as an example to others of the commitment to diversity and social justice through leadership and activism in the department. Madison Mathews of Softball is the 2024 recipient, serving as the graduate assistant Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion within the athletics department. Mathews also heads the Student Athlete DEI committee.
 
The Social Justice Team award goes to the Softball team as the team has demonstrated commitment to growing within themselves while creating an inclusive environment.
 
Coach Ryan Ludwig of Wrestling was named the Social Justice Administrator of the Year. Coach Ludwig has done extensive work with local youth groups as a volunteer coach and helping with local camps, donating over 100 hours of his time.
 
Coach Ludwig also earns the Male Team Coach of the Year. During this last season (2023-24), NIU wrestling beat in-state Big 10 foe Northwestern and reached 100 dual meet wins as head coach on the same day. He led the team to a 13-2 dual meet record, to an undefeated home record (for the first time in over 20 years), and ultimately achieved the title of MAC West Regular Season Champions.
 
The Women's Team Coach of the Year is Connie Teaberry of Track and Field. Coach Teaberry was selected for Team USA as the Women's Jumps/Multis coach and coached two-runner ups at the 2024 Indoor MAC Championships. Under Coach Teaberry's guidance, Arianna Calloway became the fourth Huskie to receive Freshman Performer of the Year honors at the conference meet.
 
The Unsung Hero recipient is Moriah Prewitt of Women's Basketball. Prewitt is an active participant in SAAC, Athletes in Action, and has dedicated over 45 hours of community service in her time as a Huskie.
 
The Huskie High-Five Award is designed to honor an NIU employee whose contribution to athletics epitomizes the Huskie work ethic. This year's recipient is Trevor Boyd of Sports Performance.
 
This past fall, the NIU student-athletes posted a combined 3.384 GPA while 74 students earned a 4.0 GPA. For the 2023 calendar year, the Women's Basketball team posted the highest GPA at 3.791 while the Baseball team posted a 3.563 GPA to win the team academic awards of the year.
 
The Male Team of the Year is Men's Golf following a historic season. The men's golfer won their first MAC Championship since 1985 to advance to the NCAA regionals. The team advanced to the NCAA Championships after just making the cut on the final day. Coach John Carlson was named MAC Coach of the Year as they set scoring records for the Huskies.
 
The Female Team of the Year winner was the Women's Soccer team. Women's Soccer appeared in the MAC Tournament for the first time since 2017 after finishing the season with an 8-8-3 overall record and a 6-5-1 mark in league play. NIU's eight overall wins are its most since 2017 and its six conference victories are the most for the program since 2007.
 
2024 Victors Award Winners

Men's Victors Cup: Wrestling
Women's Victors Cup: Softball
 
Mr. Victor E. Huskie: James Ester, Football  
Miss Victor E. Huskie: Alyssa Al-Ashari, Gymnastics  
 
Female Team of the Year: Women's Soccer
Male Team of the Year: Men's Golf
 
Female Athlete of the Year: Danielle Stewart, Softball
Male Athlete of the Year: Blake West, Wrestling
 
Women's Team Coach of the Year: Connie Teaberry, Track and Field
Men's Team Coach of the Year: Ryan Ludwig, Wrestling
 
Female Newcomer of the Year: Kiley Conner, Softball
Male Newcomer of the Year: Colin Summerhill, Baseball
 
Female Presidential Award for Academic Excellence: Alyssa Al-Ashari, Gymnastics
Male Presidential Award for Academic Excellence: Ricardo Salinas, Wrestling
 
MAC Medal of Excellence Female Nominee: Emily Romancew, Women's Golf
MAC Medal of Excellence Male Nominee: Colin Summerhill, Baseball
 
Female Community Service Team of the Year: Softball
Male Community Service Team of the Year: Wrestling
 
Huskie Comeback Award: Jacobi Jackson, Wrestling
Unsung Hero: Moriah Prewitt, Women's Basketball
Huskie High Five: Trevor Boyd, Sports Performance
Community Service Champion: Lydia Bauer, Track and Field/Cross Country
 
Male Academic Team of the Year: Baseball
Female Academic Team of the Year: Women's Basketball
 
Student-Athlete Social Justice Award: Madison Mathews, Softball
Team Social Justice Award: Softball
Social Justice Administrator of the Year: Ryan Ludwig, Wrestling

Play of the Year: Kanon Woodhill, Football