University of Minnesota Athletics
Finalists Announced for Big Ten Medal of Honor
4/13/2022 12:12:00 PM | Athletics
The female and male winners of the 2022 Big Ten Medal of Honor will be announced at the Golden Goldys on April 18
MINNEAPOLIS – The University of Minnesota announced its three female and three male finalists for the 2022 Big Ten Medal of Honor on Wednesday.
The Big Ten Medal of Honor is awarded annually to the top female and male student-athletes at each conference institution, with this year's honor marking the 108th anniversary of the award.
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 feature thousands of student-athletes, but only 28 earn this prestigious award on an annual basis. In the 100-plus years of the Medal of Honor, more than 1,300 student-athletes have earned this distinction.
Minnesota's female nominees are Bethany Hasz (women's cross country and track), Lexy Ramler (gymnastics) and Stephanie Samedy (volleyball). The male nominees are Blaise Andries (football), Alec Basten (men's cross country and outdoor track) and Gable Steveson (wrestling).
Among her accolades this season with cross country, Hasz was named All-American, USTFCCCA All-Region, First Team All-Big Ten and Big Ten Athlete of the Year. She led the Gophers in six of her seven races, including at the NCAA Championships where she posted the fastest 6K time in Gophers' history (19:36.40) en route to finishing seventh and tying for the highest individual finish by a Gopher at the national meet in program history. With outdoor track, Hasz was named a First Team All-American in the 5,000m after finishing third at the NCAA Championships. In addition, she earned All-Big Ten First Team honors as the Big Ten champion in the 10,000m and All-Big Ten Second Team honors as the conference's runner-up in the 5,000m. For indoor track, Hasz repeated as Big Ten champion in the 3k and helped lead the Gophers to their second consecutive B1G indoor team title.
Ramler has helped lead the Minnesota gymnastics team into this week's NCAA Championships. The Big Ten co-champion on beam and bars, Ramler earned First-Team All-Big Ten honors this season and was named a WCGA All-American for the regular season. This year, Ramler was ranked No. 5 in the nation in the all-around, tied for No. 5 on the beam and tied for No. 11 on the bars. A three-time Big Ten Gymnast of the Week, Ramler set or tied career highs this year on bars (9.975), beam (10.000) and floor (9.975). Along the way, she recorded the second, third, sixth (tied), 12th (tied), 14th (tied) and 20th (tied) best all-around scores in school history. Ramler was also instrumental in Minnesota earning a program-best score of 198.025 against Iowa this year, the first time in program history the team broke 198.
The 2021 season saw Samedy record a number of firsts in program history. After taking home Big Ten Player of the Year honors in 2020, she became the first Gopher ever to repeat as winner as she took home the award again last season. She also had the distinction of being the first Minnesota player ever to become a five time All-American, including four spots on the first team. In addition, Samedy was the first in team annals to be named First Team All-Big Ten four times. This season, she led the Big Ten in points (5.24) and kills (4.75) per set and became just the second player in Big Ten history to record 2,000 career kills and 1,500 digs. Samedy helped the Gophers reach three Sweet 16's, an Elite Eight and a Final Four in her five seasons in the maroon and gold.
An All-Big Ten First Team honoree, Andries started all 46 career games he competed in and helped lead Minnesota to a 30-16 record in those games. Blocking for some of the most dynamic Minnesota offenses in recent history, Andries started at every position on the offensive line in his career except center, including five starts at left tackle, 11 at left guard, 21 at right guard and nine at right tackle. He excelled off the field as well, earning CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team honors and Academic All-Big Ten recognition. Following the 2021 season, Andries declared for the NFL Draft and participated in the NFL Combine, East-West Shrine Bowl and Hula Bowl.
A co-captain of the Gophers' cross country team, Basten earned USTFCCCA All-Region and First Team All-Big Ten honors as he led Minnesota in all six of his races during the season. He claimed his third career USTFCCCA honor as he finished seventh overall at the NCAA Midwest Regionals then, at the NCAA Championships, posted the eighth-fastest 10K time in program history to finish 69th overall. Basten was also named First Team All-America and First Team All-Big Ten in the 3,000m steeplechase as he finished as the Big Ten champion and NCAA runner-up. He qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in the event, placing fourth in the first round in a program-best and career-best time of 8:22.22.
Steveson wrapped up one of the most dominant careers in NCAA history this past season as he repeated as national champion and Big Ten champ (third career) in the heavyweight division. He posted an 18-0 record on the season with an 83% bonus rate and finished his career on a 52-match win streak. As a result, he ended with the highest win percentage in program history at .977 (85-2). In addition to being a national champion for the second straight year, Steveson also won his second consecutive WIN Magazine/Culture House Dan Hodge Trophy winner, an award given to the nation's most dominant wrestler each season. He's the first to win the award more than once and the only heavyweight to ever claim the honor.
The female and male winners of the 2022 Big Ten Medal of Honor will be announced at the Golden Goldys on April 18.
The Big Ten Medal of Honor is awarded annually to the top female and male student-athletes at each conference institution, with this year's honor marking the 108th anniversary of the award.
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 feature thousands of student-athletes, but only 28 earn this prestigious award on an annual basis. In the 100-plus years of the Medal of Honor, more than 1,300 student-athletes have earned this distinction.
Minnesota's female nominees are Bethany Hasz (women's cross country and track), Lexy Ramler (gymnastics) and Stephanie Samedy (volleyball). The male nominees are Blaise Andries (football), Alec Basten (men's cross country and outdoor track) and Gable Steveson (wrestling).
Among her accolades this season with cross country, Hasz was named All-American, USTFCCCA All-Region, First Team All-Big Ten and Big Ten Athlete of the Year. She led the Gophers in six of her seven races, including at the NCAA Championships where she posted the fastest 6K time in Gophers' history (19:36.40) en route to finishing seventh and tying for the highest individual finish by a Gopher at the national meet in program history. With outdoor track, Hasz was named a First Team All-American in the 5,000m after finishing third at the NCAA Championships. In addition, she earned All-Big Ten First Team honors as the Big Ten champion in the 10,000m and All-Big Ten Second Team honors as the conference's runner-up in the 5,000m. For indoor track, Hasz repeated as Big Ten champion in the 3k and helped lead the Gophers to their second consecutive B1G indoor team title.
Ramler has helped lead the Minnesota gymnastics team into this week's NCAA Championships. The Big Ten co-champion on beam and bars, Ramler earned First-Team All-Big Ten honors this season and was named a WCGA All-American for the regular season. This year, Ramler was ranked No. 5 in the nation in the all-around, tied for No. 5 on the beam and tied for No. 11 on the bars. A three-time Big Ten Gymnast of the Week, Ramler set or tied career highs this year on bars (9.975), beam (10.000) and floor (9.975). Along the way, she recorded the second, third, sixth (tied), 12th (tied), 14th (tied) and 20th (tied) best all-around scores in school history. Ramler was also instrumental in Minnesota earning a program-best score of 198.025 against Iowa this year, the first time in program history the team broke 198.
The 2021 season saw Samedy record a number of firsts in program history. After taking home Big Ten Player of the Year honors in 2020, she became the first Gopher ever to repeat as winner as she took home the award again last season. She also had the distinction of being the first Minnesota player ever to become a five time All-American, including four spots on the first team. In addition, Samedy was the first in team annals to be named First Team All-Big Ten four times. This season, she led the Big Ten in points (5.24) and kills (4.75) per set and became just the second player in Big Ten history to record 2,000 career kills and 1,500 digs. Samedy helped the Gophers reach three Sweet 16's, an Elite Eight and a Final Four in her five seasons in the maroon and gold.
An All-Big Ten First Team honoree, Andries started all 46 career games he competed in and helped lead Minnesota to a 30-16 record in those games. Blocking for some of the most dynamic Minnesota offenses in recent history, Andries started at every position on the offensive line in his career except center, including five starts at left tackle, 11 at left guard, 21 at right guard and nine at right tackle. He excelled off the field as well, earning CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team honors and Academic All-Big Ten recognition. Following the 2021 season, Andries declared for the NFL Draft and participated in the NFL Combine, East-West Shrine Bowl and Hula Bowl.
A co-captain of the Gophers' cross country team, Basten earned USTFCCCA All-Region and First Team All-Big Ten honors as he led Minnesota in all six of his races during the season. He claimed his third career USTFCCCA honor as he finished seventh overall at the NCAA Midwest Regionals then, at the NCAA Championships, posted the eighth-fastest 10K time in program history to finish 69th overall. Basten was also named First Team All-America and First Team All-Big Ten in the 3,000m steeplechase as he finished as the Big Ten champion and NCAA runner-up. He qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in the event, placing fourth in the first round in a program-best and career-best time of 8:22.22.
Steveson wrapped up one of the most dominant careers in NCAA history this past season as he repeated as national champion and Big Ten champ (third career) in the heavyweight division. He posted an 18-0 record on the season with an 83% bonus rate and finished his career on a 52-match win streak. As a result, he ended with the highest win percentage in program history at .977 (85-2). In addition to being a national champion for the second straight year, Steveson also won his second consecutive WIN Magazine/Culture House Dan Hodge Trophy winner, an award given to the nation's most dominant wrestler each season. He's the first to win the award more than once and the only heavyweight to ever claim the honor.
The female and male winners of the 2022 Big Ten Medal of Honor will be announced at the Golden Goldys on April 18.
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