University of Minnesota Athletics
TERRI JASHINSKY AND SHANNON KENNEDY HONORED WITH TOP AWARDS
4/18/2000 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
The Big Ten Medal of Honor is the highest award to be bestowed upon a student-athlete in the Big Ten Conference. Each Big Ten school selects a senior student-athlete who represents the very best achievements in all areas: academic excellence, athletic achievement and leadership.
Jashinsky, a native of Menomonee Falls, Wis., completed a stellar collegiate career as a 12-time All-America Honorable Mention selection. Her signature event was the 100-yard butterfly, an event in which she earned All-America citations with a 13th-place finish at the NCAA Championships in 1999 and a 15th-place showing in 2000. She was also the 1999 Big Ten champion and 2000 runner-up in the event.
Jashinsky earned All-Big Ten accord twice in her career and helped her team to Big Ten team titles in 1999 and 2000, the first conference titles for her sport in Minnesota history. In her four-year career, the Gophers also finished in the top 25 in the nation each season, including a 23rd-place finish at the 2000 NCAA Championships. Jashinsky is also one of 12 Golden Gopher swimmers to have qualified for this summer's U.S. Olympic Trials.
A 2000 team captain, Jashinsky is pursuing a degree in kinesiology. She is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree.
The Senior Athlete of the Year award is voted on by the student-athletes. The award recipient is chosen for her performance athletically and academically but also for their character and leadership abilities.
Kennedy spent two seasons with the Gopher women's hockey team after transferring from Colby College (Maine). In her second season of 1999-2000, the Woburn, Mass., native and education major was the only senior on the Minnesota squad that made history by winning the first national team title in the history of Minnesota Women's Athletics.
A co-captain of the national champion Gophers, Kennedy was selected as the 2000 Western College Hockey Association Women's League Student-Athlete of the Year. In addition to her WCHA All-Academic team honors, she performed at crunch time on the ice, placing eighth in the nation with five game-winning goals. She finished her career at Minnesota with 24 goals and 65 points.
