In a release earlier today the Wisconsin athletic department announced the awards for Male and Female athlete of the year, giving the Male award to Montee Ball (Football) and the Female award to Brianna Decker (Women’s Hockey).
The naming of either as winners shouldn’t surprise anyone as both had seasons for the record books. Ball racked up a litany of awards and records along the way. His list of awards included the Silver Ball (B1G MVP) from the Chicago Tribune, both the RB of the Year and the Offensive POY in the B1G, a consensus 1st team All-American pick, and being named a finalist for the Heisman Trophy and the Doak Walker Award.
We all know about his nation best 1,926 yards rushing and his Barry Sanders’ TD record tying performance (39TD’s), so those numbers alone should’ve made this a slam dunk but his competition was pretty stiff – coming from the likes of Justin Schultz (Hockey), Japheth Cato (Track & Field), and of course teammate Russell Wilson.
Decker, the Women’s athlete of the year, had just about an equally impressive season and you could argue even a better one than Ball had. She led the Badgers to a conference crown and the NCAA Frozen Four final. The junior led the nation in goals with 37 for the year and was named the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winner (Heisman of Women’s Hockey). She was the 4th Badger to win the award and was named 1st team All-American as well as the WCHA Player of the Year.
Her honors weren’t just limited to the Badger program though as she was a member of the U.S. Women’s National Team that took home the Four Nations Cup in 2011 and a 2nd place finish at the IIHF Women’s World Championships.
Decker’s award is the 2nd straight season a Women’s Hockey player has won the award. Ball reclaims the Men’s award from the basketball team, which had Jordan Taylor named the AOY in 2011.
Ball will now be up for the Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year from the Big Ten and Decker will now be up for the Suzy Favor Female Athlete of the Year as each Big Ten school nominates a male and female for the award.
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