June 16, 2004
CHAMPAIGN, Ill.- Gymnast Justin Spring (Burke, Va.) and soccer goalkeeper Leisha Alcia (Mississauga, Ontario) have been named winners of the 2003-04 Dike Eddleman Award, which goes to the top Male and Female Athletes each year at the University of Illinois. Spring was the 2004 NCAA high bar champion during his sophomore campaign, while Alcia was a first team All-American goalkeeper for the Illini soccer team. Spring becomes the fifth men's gymnast to earn the prestigious award and the first since David Zeddies in 1989. Alcia is the first ever soccer player claim the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics' (DIA) top prize.
Spring was one of two NCAA champions for Illinois this year. He won the high bar title at the NCAA Championships in dramatic fashion at Assembly Hall, scoring a 9.775 on the final routine of the competition to take the crown in front of the home fans. That performance, along with his fifth-place showing on the parallel bars at NCAAs, earned him the third and fourth All-America accolades of his young career. He also led the top-ranked Illini to a third-place finish in the team race. At the Big Ten Championships, Spring won the floor exercise and placed second in the all-around with a school-record score of 55.600 while leading Illinois to its first team title in 15 years. During the regular season, the Burke, Va., native won 19 of 40 event titles, a rate which is nearly unprecedented in gymnastics, and put his name atop the UI record books on five different events - the floor exercise, vault, parallel bars, high bar and all-around. He was named NCAA Gymnast of the Week on three occasions and was a five-time Big Ten Gymnast of the Week.
In addition, Spring, who is widely recognized as one of the country's most exciting up-and-coming gymnasts, has begun to make a splash on the national and international scenes. He recently placed fourth on high bar at the 2004 U.S. Gymnastics Championships, and, last August, he competed for Team USA at the World University Games in Daegu, South Korea, where he advanced to the finals on the floor exercise.
Alcia was the driving force for Janet Rayfield's Fighting Illini soccer squad that won its first ever Big Ten Tournament Championship and cruised to a second place regular season conference finish, both firsts for the program. Known for her ability to make difficult, acrobatic saves, Alcia played all but 17 minutes for the Illini in 2003, posting 12 solo shutouts and becoming the UI career leader in shutouts (16), saves (256) and goals against average (GAA) (1.14). The junior was named a first team All-American by three different organizations (NSCAA, Soccerbuzz and CSTV), was a first team All-Big Ten selection and was named Big Ten Player of the Week on three separate occasions.
A Mississauga, Ontario, native, Alcia ranked eighth in the nation and led the Big Ten in GAA (0.54) while leading an Illini defense that was one of the best in the nation. The unit shattered countless records, including fewest goals allowed (12) and shutouts in a season (13). The 13 shutouts were the second most by a team in Big Ten history behind Penn State's 17 in 2000. The defense also posted two record-breaking consecutive shutout streaks of five and six games, and 475 and 631 minutes in 2003.
The University of Illinois Athlete of the Year was first awarded in 1940. The award was given annually until it was discontinued in 1973. Since 1982, the University of Illinois has recognized a Male and Female Athlete of the Year. In 1993, the awards were renamed the Dike Eddleman Athlete of the Year awards in honor of the 11-time UI letterman and former Olympian. Spring and Alcia will be officially recognized at the Varsity "I" Banquet in the fall.
Other University awards were handed out at the annual Scholar-Athlete banquet on May 4. Track stand-out Cassie Hunt and football star E.B. Halsey won the UI Newcomer of the Year Awards, while Kelly Walker of women's soccer and Eric Garnett of the men's gymnastics team were winners of the Fighting Illini Spirit Awards. As has been done previously, the Eddleman Award winners were not selected until the completion of the spring sports seasons, which wrapped-up last weekend with the NCAA Track and Field Championships.
All-Time Illinois Athletes of the Year
1940 William J. Hapac, basketball & baseball
1941 John Drish, basketball & baseball
1942 Andy Phillip, basketball & baseball
1943 Andy Phillip, basketball & baseball
1944 Buddy Young, football & track#
1945 Walton "Junior" Kirk, basketball
1946 Herbert McKenley, track
1947 Alex Agase, football & wrestling
1948 Dwight "Dike" Eddleman, football, basketball & track
1949 Dwight "Dike" Eddleman, football, basketball & track
1950 Russell Steger, football & baseball#
1951 Don Sunderlage, basketball
1952 Charles Boerio, football#
1953 Clive Follmer, basketball & baseball
1954 J.C. Caroline, football#
1955 Paul Judson, basketball
1956 Em Lindbeck, football & baseball
1957 Abe Woodson, football & track
1958 Bob Mitchell, football & track#
1959 Abe Grossfeld, gymnastics
1960 Bill Burrell, football
1961 Bill Brown, football & track
1962 Doug Mills, football, basketball & baseball
1963 Harold Holmes, gymnastics
1964 Dick Butkus, football
1965 Dick Butkus, football
1966 Jim Grabowski, football
1967 Jim Dawson, basketball
1968 Dave Scholz, basketball
1969 Dave Scholz, basketball
1970 Mike Price, basketball
1971 Lee LaBadie, track/cross country
1972 Rick Gross, track/cross country
1973-81 Award not given
1982 Tony Eason, football
1983 Tony Eason, football
Marianne Dickerson, track/cross country
1984 Don Thorp, football
Karen Brems, gymnastics
1985 Charles Lake, gymnastics
Kelly McNee, track/cross country
1986 David Williams, football
Jonelle Polk, basketball
1987 Darrin Fletcher, baseball
Mary Eggers, volleyball
1988 Tim Simon, track
Mary Eggers, volleyball
1989 David Zeddies, gymnastics
Mary Eggers, volleyball
1990 Kendall Gill, basketball
Laura Bush, volleyball
1991 Jon Llewellyn, wrestling
Sarah Sharp, basketball
Renee Heiken, golf
1992 Tim Simpson, football
Len Sitko, track/cross country
Renee Heiken, golf
Tonja Buford, track
1993 Marko Koers, track
Tonja Buford, track
1994 Anthony Jones, track
Tina Rogers, volleyball
1995 Dana Howard, football
Steve Marianetti, wrestling
Tonya Williams, track
1996 Kevin Hardy, football
Tonya Williams, track
1997 Ernest Benion, wrestling
Ashley Berggren, basketball
1998 Eric Siebert, wrestling
Ashley Bergren, basketball
Yvonne Harrison, track & field
1999 Oliver Freelove, tennis
Cristy Chapman, volleyball
2000 Jason Anderson, baseball
Jessica Aveyard, swimming
2001 Adam Tirapelle, wrestling
Perdita Felicien, track & field
2002 Kurt Kittner, football
Perdita Felicien, track & field
2003 Amer Delic, tennis
Matt Lackey, wrestling
Perdita Felicien, track & field
2004 Justin Spring, gymnastics
Leisha Alcia, soccer
