The Fighting Illini Spirit Award is given annually to the male and female student-athletes who best exemplify the spirit, courage, effort and dedication of the Fighting Illini.

FIGHTING ILLINI ATHLETICS AWARDS

» Dike Eddleman Athlete of the Year 
» Big Ten Medal of Honor 
» Freshman of the Year
» Newcomer of the Year
» Big Ten Jackie Robinson Award
» Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship Award
» Spirit Award

Male Recipient Year Name Sport 1990 Darrick Brownlow Football 1991 Andy Kpedi Basketball 1992 Mike Hopkins Football 1993 Scott Turner Football/Track & Field 1993 Pete Frew Baseball 1994 Steve Bridges Track & Field/Cross Country 1995 Ernest Benion Wrestling 1996 Jeremy Sutter Tennis 1997 Ernest Benion Wrestling 1998 Gavin Sontag Tennis 1999 Travis Romagnoli Gymnastics 2000 Joe Sprengard Baseball 2001 Babatunde Ridley Track & Field 2002 Chad Hay Wrestling 2002 Mike Kosta Tennis 2003 Jerrance Howard Basketball 2004 Erik Garnett Gymnastics 2005 Chris Martin Tennis 2006 Alex Tirapelle Wrestling 2007 Shawn Roof Baseball 2008 J Leman Football 2009 Chester Frazier Basketball 2010 Juice Williams Football 2010 Luke Stannard Gymnastics 2011 Chad Wiest Gymnastics 2012 Nathan Scheelhaase Football 2013 Corey Lewis Football 2014 Ross Guignon Tennis 2015 Reilly O'Toole Football 2016 Joe Spencer Football 2017 Tracy Abrams Basketball 2018 Carver James Wrestling 2019 David Craan Baseball 2020 Dre Brown Football 2020 Andres Feliz Basketball 2021 Zeke Clark Tennis 2022 Jake Hansen Football 2023 Alex Palczewski Football 2024 Isaiah Williams Football 2025 Matthew Bailey Football

Female Recipient Year Name Sport 1990 Heather Singalewitch Gymnastics 1991 Tonja Buford Track & Field 1992 Kate Riley Basketball 1993 Tonya Booker Basketball 1994 Merrill Mullis Volleyball 1995 Dina Slomski Gymnastics 1995 Lissa Kimmel Tennis 1996 Laura Mindock Track & Field 1997 Kelly Scherr Volleyball 1998 Missy Kann Soccer 1999 Trisha Henry Swimming & Diving 2000 Melissa Beitz Volleyball 2001 Betsy Spicer Volleyball 2002 Ade Oshinowo Track & Field 2003 Sarah Baumgartner Softball 2004 Kelly Walker Soccer 2005 Erin Virtue Volleyball 2006 Rasa Virsilaite Volleyball 2007 Caroline Moore Swimming & Diving 2008 Shannon McDonnell Soccer 2009 Kayani Turner Volleyball 2010 Megan Fudge Tennis 2011 Krystin Miller Soccer 2012 Amy Allin Tennis 2013 Shayla Mutz Soccer 2014 Jennifer Beltran Volleyball 2015 Melissa Kopinski Tennis 2016 Taylore Peterson Soccer 2017 Jill Nicklas Softball 2018 Taylor Edwards Softball 2019 Beth Prince Volleyball 2019 Veronica Ruelius Softball 2020 Taylor Edwards Basketball 2021 Mallory Mizuki Gymnastics 2022 Mia Townes Gymnastics 2023 Kendall Bostic Basketball 2024 Jada Peebles Basketball 2025 Adalia McKenzie Basketball