Langley, Bizzarri Earn Dike Eddleman Awards
June 16, 2010 | Men's Golf
June 16, 2010
Champaign, Ill. - A pair of NCAA champions have been named the 2009-10 Dike Eddelman Award winners given to the top male and female athletes at the University of Illinois during the school year. The Division of Intercollegiate Athletics named NCAA golf champion Scott Langley and NCAA cross country and indoor 3,000 meter champion Angela Bizzarri as the Eddleman winners from this year. The DIA also named D.J. Richardson from basketball and softball's Pepper Gay as the Newcomers of the Year.
Bizzarri becomes a three-time recipient of the award, joining sprinter and hurdler Perdita Felicien, who claimed the honor from 2001-2003, with that distinction. In fact track & field has had a stranglehold on the award of late, claiming the award nine of the last 10 years and 14 times since 1992. Langley, meanwhile, becomes the first men's golfer to claim the honor in the 70 years of the award. Current Illinois women's coach Renee (Heiken) Slone was the only golfer male or female to garner the accolade, having won it in 1991 and 1992.
 Junior Scott Langley becomes the first men's golfer to claim the Dike Eddleman laurel in the 70 years of the award.  |
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Langley became the first Illini ever to win the NCAA golf championship. He fired a 10-under par 206 for 54 holes to win the championship by two strokes at The Honors Course in Chattanooga, Tenn. He was named a First Team All-American and earned the Arnold Palmer Award presented by Callaway to the NCAA golf champion. Langley was named the Big Ten Golfer of the Year after posting eight top-10 finishes in 14 tournaments. He set the University of Illinois single-season stroke average with a 71.37 mark this season and is on pace to break Steve Stricker's career scoring record by an Illini. Langley has been named to the United States Palmer Cup team and will begin play Thursday at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.
Bizzarri won the NCAA cross country title in November at Terre Haute, Ind., with a school-record 6K time of 19:46.8 and was named the Cross Country Athlete of the Year by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). In track, she captured her third national title in the 3,000 meters where she edged Iowa State's Lisa Koll down the stretch. In track, Bizzarri, who was named the Big Ten Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year, won four conference titles this year, taking home the 3,000 and 5,000 meters indoors and the 1,500 and 5,000 meters outdoors. Bizzarri is a nine-time All-American and owns seven school records in total. She tied the mark in the mile and reset her own record in the 3,000m and 5,000m during the 2010 indoor season and was part of the school-record distance medley relay in 2008. She also boasts the top spot in the outdoor 1,500m and 5,000m and set the 6K cross country record during the 2009 season.
Richardson was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year by the league's coaches and to the Big Ten All-Freshman team. His 35 starts were the most by a freshman in school history, and he scored in double figures in 22 of those games. The second-leading freshman scorer in the Big Ten, Richardson averaged 10.5 points per game, while making 69 three-pointers (second most a freshman in UI history). He also averaged 2.1 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game.
Gay was one of the anchors of the Illinois pitching staff, posting a 16-1 record and a 1.46 ERA with 113 strikeouts. She ranked third in the Big Ten in ERA while opposing batters hit just .217 against her. Gay recorded three of Illinois' five victories while posting a 1.11 ERA en route to helping the Illini to the NFCA Leadoff Classic title in late February and was a big reason the Illini won 16 of their last 17 regular season games. Illinois posted a 45-8 record, placed second in the Big Ten and advanced to its second straight NCAA Tournament.
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 both a Male and Female Athlete of the Year. In 1993, the awards were named in honor of the 11-time UI letterman and former Olympian, Dwight "Dike" Eddleman. The Newcomer and Spirit Awards have been presented each year since 1990.
The other major awards were named on May 3 at the Scholar-Athlete reception. Bizzarri and football's Jon Asamoah earned the Big Ten Medal of Honor. Juice Williams from football and Luke Stannard from gymnastics shared the Male Spirit Award with tennis' Megan Fudge earning the Female Spirit Award.
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 Berggren, 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
2005 Deron Williams, basketball
Cassie Hunt, track & field/cross country
2006 Justin Spring, gymnastics
Cassie Hunt, track & field/cross country
2007 Kevin Anderson, tennis
Yvonne Mensah, track & field
2008 J Leman, football
Angela Bizzarri, track & field/cross country
2009 Paul Ruggeri, gymnastics
Angela Bizzarri, track & field/cross country
2010 Scott Langley, golf
Angela Bizzarri, track & field/cross country
All-Time Illinois Newcomers of the Year
1990 Steve Bridges, track & field/cross country Peggy Pullman, gymnastics 1991 Deon Thomas, basketball Mandy Cunningham, basketball 1992 Marko Koers, track & field Becky Biehl, golf 1993 Simeon Rice, football Kirsten Gleis, volleyball 1994 Jerry Turek, tennis Nicole "Punti" Viernes, gymnastics 1995 Robert Holcombe, football Erin Borske, volleyball 1996 Karl Roesler, wrestling Kim Berres, gymnastics 1997 Chris Jones, track & field Cary Franklin, tennis Tisha Ponder, track & field 1998 Adam Tirapelle, wrestling Aleisha Latimer, track & field 1999 Cory Bradford, basketball Jason Van Swol, track & field Allison Curtin, basketball 2000 Brandon Lloyd, football Shavonna Hunter, basketball 2001 Amer Delic, tennis Phil Stolt, tennis Jennifer McGaffigan, tennis Susanna Kallur, track & field 2002 Drew Davidson, baseball Ashley Williams, gymnastics 2003 Alex Tirapelle, wrestling Rajeev Ram, tennis Rachelle Coriddi, softball 2004 E.B. Halsey, football Cassie Hunt, track & field/cross country 2005 Kevin Anderson, tennis Macall Harkins, tennis 2006 Kyle Hudson, football/baseball Julie Crall, gymnastics 2007 Gakologelwang Masheto, track & field Angela Bizzarri, track & field/cross country 2008 Arrelious Benn, football Allison Buckley, gymnastics 2009 Andrew Riley, track & field Michelle Bartsch, volleyball 2010 D.J. Richardson, basketball Pepper Gay, softball
