With the completion of the 2020-21 season, Illinois has announced its nominees for male and female Freshman of the Year. The following is a look at the top accolades from the most accomplished Fighting Illini freshmen this year. The history of award winners is available here.

ILLINOIS MALE FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR NOMINEES
Lucas Byrd  //  Wrestling
• Earned All-America honors at 133-pounds
• Finished fifth at the NCAA Championships at 133-pounds
• Finished third at the Big Ten Championships at 133-pounds, automatically qualifying for the NCAA Championships
• Posted a 17-4 overall record during his first season in the lineup
• Finished with a team-high 29 dual points scored, 11 more than the next highest
• Went 7-1 during the dual season, recording two pins and two major decision victories
• Went 6-2 at the NCAA Championships, losing his second match of the tournament and wrestling back to finish in the top five at 133-pounds

Andre Curbelo  //  Basketball
• Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year
• Big Ten All-Freshman Team
• Fourth on team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 9.1 ppg and 4.0 rpg
• Third in Big Ten in assists during league play at 4.6 apg
• Set season highs with 19 points in win at No. 7 Ohio State (3/6), 12 rebounds in Nebraska win (2/25) and 9 assists in Minnesota win (12/15)
• Helped Illinois to its best season in 16 years, including the Big Ten Tournament title, NCAA Tournament No. 1 seed, and No. 2 national ranking in final AP poll

Tyler Cushing  //  Cross Country
• Placed 31st overall at the Big Ten Championships with a time of 24:50 in the 8k race
• Led the Illini as the second wearing Orange and Blue to cross the finish line at Big Tens behind All-American Jon Davis
• Scored to help the Illini to a sixth place finish in the conference

Hunter Heck  //  Tennis
• Battled back to hand JJ Tracy of Ohio State his first loss of the season and help secure the Illini the Big Ten Tournament Championship
• Clinched Illinois' 4-3 victory over Northwestern (4/18/21)
• 14-5 during the dual match season including 3-0 at No. 4 position and 10-4 at No. 5 position
• Ended the season on a nine-match win streak
• Helped Illini to Big Ten division title, Big Ten Tournament championship (first since 2015), and NCAA Round of 16

Justin Janas  //  Baseball
• All-Big Ten First Team
• Midwest All-Region Second Team
• Big Ten batting champion
• Also led the conference in on-base percentage
• Led the team in batting average (.391), on-base percentage (.506) and hits (54)
• Went 5-for-5 (2B, RBI, R) on May 16 at Iowa. He was the first Illinois batter with five hits in a game since Jason Goldstein on May 10, 2015 vs. Rutgers and first to do it on the road since Ryan Hastings on April 7, 2008 at Indiana
• Reached base safely in 20 consecutive games this season and 40-of-42 appearances overall

Logan Myers  //  Gymnastics
• College Gymnastics Association Rookie of the Week (1/17)
• Big Ten Freshman of the Week (1/26)
• Turned in career-high 77.750 in the all-around at the Big Ten Championships
• Also earned career-highs on high bar, floor, and pommel horse at B1G Championships
• Earned first-career event title on parallel bars in his Illini debut vs. NIU

Tyler Sudduth  //  Track & Field
• Placed eighth in the shot put at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships with a personal best throw of 60-5 ft., earning one point for the Illini. This is the fifth best mark in program history.
• Placed eighth in the shot put at the Big Ten Indoor Championships with a personal record throw of 58-5 ¾ ft., earning one point for the Illini
• Placed second in the shot put at the Badger Icebreaker Meet

Isaiah Williams  //  Football
• Set the Illinois single-game rushing record by a quarterback with 192 yards in his first career start Rutgers 11/14/20
• Finished the season No. 10 in career rushing yards by a QB with 405 rushing yards
• Finished the season with the 389 rushing yards, the ninth most in a season by a quarterback in school history
• Played in five games and started four at quarterback
• 26-for-63 passing for 393 yards, four touchdowns on the season
• 63 carries for 389 yards and one touchdown on the season

ILLINOIS FEMALE FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR NOMINEES
Cara Bognar  //  Swim & Dive
• Qualified for the finals at Big Ten Championships with a time of 4:18.70 in the 400 individual medley, good for fourth all-time in program history; finished in 23rd place
• Fourth fastest individual all-time in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:00.57 at Big Ten Championships
• Lifetime best of 4:52.36 in the 500 freestyle and seventh fastest individual time in school history at Big Ten Championships
• Two first place finishes in first career meet at Purdue (200 butterfly and 500 freestyle)
• Three individual first place finishes at Nebraska
• Newcomer of the Year Team Award
• Scholar Athlete of the Week Feb. 1-5

Kate Duong  //  Tennis
• Led the Illini with 27 combined wins (14-8 singles record, 13-9 doubles record)
• Spent the majority of her first season playing at the 2-singles position, posting a 5-6 record at that spot during conference play
• Won her singles match on court two against No. 7 Northwestern to clinch the upset for the Illini, their first win over NU in 21 attempts
• Posted an 11-5 singles record during Big Ten play
• Battled to win three, three-set singles matches on the year against Purdue, Wisconsin, and Northwestern

Olivia Howell  //  Track & Field
• Big Ten Freshman of the Year
• Second Team All-American in the 1500 m, finishing 10th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships
• B1G Champion in the 1500 m
• Broke the Illinois Program Record in the 1500 m with her 4:09.71 in the NCAA Championships Preliminary race
• Finished in seventh place at the NCAA West Regionals to qualify for the NCAA Championships
• Recorded the eighth-fastest time in the 800 m in program history with a 2:06.88

Aaliyah Nye  //  Basketball
• Played in all 18 games she was available, including starts in the final 10 games
• Ranked fourth on the team in scoring (8.1 ppg) overall, and third vs. B1G opponents (8.7 ppg)
• Led the team in three-point shooting (.351) hitting 27 of 77 attempts from distance
• Scored a career-high 17 points, including 4-for-10 3FGs, in Illinois' Big Ten Tournament victory over Wisconsin (3/9/21)
• Scored eight points in the final 6:02 – including the go-ahead three-pointer with 41 seconds remaining – in Illinois' 54-49 victory over Purdue (2/7/21)
• Returned from injury to score 15 points vs. Nebraska (1/25/21)

Raina Terry  //  Volleyball
• Six-rotation, primary passer outside hitter that started 17 of 18 matches as a true freshman in the nation's toughest volleyball conference
• Led the Illini with 210 kills (3.09 kills per set) while also ranking second on the team with 28 service aces (fourth in the Big Ten), third on the team with 122 digs (1.79 digs per set) and totaled 27 blocks
• Registered six double-doubles and totaled 12 double-digit kill outings, including two 20-kill matches
• Named Big Ten Freshman of the Week on March 22, 2021
• Turned in a match-high and career-high 23 kills in a five-set win over Maryland (3/20/21)
• Came within just two service aces of a triple-double after totaling 13 kills and career-highs of 15 digs and eight aces in a win over Maryland (3/19/21). Terry's eight aces also tied for the second-most in a single match in program history, just one off the program record of nine, set during the 2010 season.

Joanna Verzosa-Dolezal  //  Soccer
• All-B1G Freshman Team
• Major contributor to Illini defense, starting all 12 games at defender
• Played all 1,103 eligible minutes for the Illini
• Helped Illini pitch four shutouts during the 2020 season
• Fired two shots, putting one on goal

Jaelyn Vickery  //  Softball
• Second-Team All-Big Ten
• Big Ten All-Freshman Team
• Started all 44 games in centerfield for the Illini
• Finished with a .306 batting average and 37 hits
• Second on the team in runs scored (27), OPS (.850), and OBP (.404)
• Led the team in stolen bases (11)
• Notched 11 extra base hits, including two home runs