WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Big Ten Conference announced its outdoor track season awards on Tuesday afternoon and a pair of Boilermakers was honored.
Dani Bunch was named the women’s Big Ten Field Athlete of the Year and the Big Ten Field Athlete of the Championships, while Raheem Mostert was tabbed the men’s Big Ten Track Athlete of the Championships.
Bunch earned her 10th and 11th career Big Ten medals over the weekend after picking up a silver medal in the hammer throw and the shot put. She began the championships with the hammer throw on Friday in the rain. Despite entering with the sixth-best conference mark on the season, Bunch was just off her personal best and took second place with a throw of 58.25m (191-1).
On Saturday, she competed in the shot put and took second with a mark of 16.80m (55-01.50). She was one of four individuals to score in both events, though none of the other three place as high as she did in either event.
During the season, Bunch broke the school record in the shot put with a throw of 17.16m (56-03.75) to win the Drake Relays. She also took third at the Drake Relays in the hammer throw as she had a toss of 58.36m (191-6), which is her PR.
Over the course of the season, Bunch won six total events and had three runner-up finishes. She was named the Big Ten Field Athlete of the Week two times during the season, the first two of her career, in consecutive weeks after winning the shot put at the Kentucky Relays and then after the Drake Relays, both at the end of April.
Bunch’s awards complete the sweep of career conference awards. She won the Big Ten Field Athlete of the Indoor Championships during the 2012 season, after winning the weight throw and taking second in the shot put.
This winter, she earned the Big Ten Indoor Field Athlete of the Year award after breaking the school record in the shot put and weight throw and leading the conference in both events for most of the season. She has been named the Big Ten Field Athlete of the Week seven times during her indoor career, including six this season, and twice during outdoor season.
Mostert picked up the Big Ten Field Athlete of the Championships, his second this year after also winning the award during the indoor season. The indoor 60m and 200m Big Ten Champion was busy over the weekend winning the 100m and 200m dash titles, and helping the 4x100m relay team take second and the 4x400m relay team take fourth.
All four of those championship events took place on Sunday afternoon. Mostert earned 20 of the team’s 79 total points as an individual, and contributed to 13 more with the relay finishes, both in which he moved the relay team up at least two spots in his final leg.
Also announced were team Sportsmanship Award winners. The Purdue men’s winner was Chukwuebuka Enekwechi, who won the hammer throw and took second in the shot put over the weekend. The women’s winner was BreAnna Smith who took second in the 800m and ran the final leg of the women’s school-record break 4x400m relay team which took second place and pushed the Boilermaker women into third place.
A full list of the Big Ten award winners can be found below.
Bunch and Mostert continue the season in a week and a half with the NCAA East Regional in Jacksonville, Fla. Bunch will qualify in the hammer and shot put, while Mostert is expected to qualify in the 100m, 200m, 4x100m and potentially could run in the 4x400m. The regional begins on May 29.
Men’s
Track Athlete of the Year
Mohammed Ahmed, Wisconsin
Field Athlete of the Year
Darrell Hill, Penn State
Freshman of the Year
Trevor Yedoni, Minnesota
Track Athlete of the Championships
Raheem Mostert, Purdue
Field Athlete of the Championships
Darrell Hill, Penn State
Coach of the Year
Mick Bryne, Wisconsin
Sportsmanship Honorees
George Wayda, Illinois
Nolan Fife, Indiana
Drew Clark, Iowa
Herman Washington, Michigan
Codi Mattix, Michigan State
Andrew Larsen, Minnesota
Travis Englund, Nebraska
Jackson Neff, Ohio State
Russell Hedrick, Penn State
Chukwuebuka Enekwechi, Purdue
Charlie Foss, Wisconsin
Women’s
Track Athlete of the Year
Erin Finn, Michigan
Field Athlete of the Year
Dani Bunch, Purdue
Freshman of the Year
Erin Finn, Michigan
Track Athlete of the Championships
Erin Finn, Michigan
Field Athlete of the Championships
Dani Bunch, Purdue
Coach of the Year
Beth Alford-Sullivan, Penn State
Sportsmanship Honorees
Kandie Bloch-Jones, Illinois
Ari Nelson, Indiana
Zinnia Miller, Iowa
Amber Smith, Michigan
Melanie Brender, Michigan State
Laura Docherty, Minnesota
Annie Jackson, Nebraska
Aaliyah Barnes, Ohio State
Laura Loht, Penn State
BreAnna Smith, Purdue
Lizzie Wendt, Wisconsin
