CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference announced the 2024 Big Ten Men's & Women's Indoor Track and Field Championships award winners on Thursday, as selected by the conference's head coaches. The championship meet was held last weekend at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.
Senior Aiden Ouimet was selected as Men's Field Athlete of the Championships after he claimed the heptathlon title with a new conference indoor record of 6,120 points. It's a school record and the second highest score in the nation for the season. He is the only Illini in Big Ten history to take home the award.
Director of track, field and cross country Petros Kyprianou was tabbed as Big Ten Coach of the Year on the women's side after leading the Illini to their first indoor team championship in 11 years (2013). The Illini women's squad also saw three athletes win individual Big Ten championships, the most since the 2013 team put four on top of the podium. He's the first Illini coach to win the award since Tonja Buford-Bailey in 2013.
Senior Will Rezny and junior Tori Thomas were also honored as Illinois' Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honorees. The Big Ten Conference office recognizes one student-athlete from each team (men's and women's) as the recipient of the Sportsmanship Award. The student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, the student-athletes must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. Rezny and Thomas are now candidates for the overall Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, as the conference office will honor one male and one female student-athlete from each institution, across all sports, at the end of the academic year.
The Big Ten will announce Track Athlete of the Year, Field Athlete of the Year and Freshman of the Year following the conclusion of the NCAA Championships, which are scheduled for March 7-9 at The Track at New Balance, Boston, Mass.
Men's Indoor Track & Field Honorees
Track Athlete of the Championships
Cheickna Traore, Gr., Penn State
Field Athlete of the Championships
Aiden Ouimet, Sr., Illinois
Coach of the Year
Mick Byrne, Wisconsin
Women's Indoor Track & Field Honorees
Track Athlete of the Championships
Hayley Kitching, Penn State
Field Athlete of the Championships
Chloe Timberg, Rutgers
Coach of the Year
Petros Kyprianou, Illinois
Men's Indoor Track & Field Sportsmanship Honorees
Will Rezny, Illinois
Aiden Lord, Indiana
Sean Smith, Iowa
Tom Brady, Michigan
Trey Seorles, Michigan State
Kevin Shubert, Nebraska
Mason Loius, Ohio State
Chris DeSousa, Penn State
Brett Otterbacher, Purdue
Brian Pedretti, Rutgers
Andrew Casey, Wisconsin
Women's Indoor Track & Field Sportsmanship Honorees
Tori Thomas, Illinois
Kenisha Phillips, Indiana
Chloe Larsen, Iowa
Anna Coffin, Maryland
Sam Tran, Michigan
Grace Molloy, Michigan State
Breanne Brewster, Minnesota
Johanna Ilves, Nebraska
Aniya Mosley, Ohio State
Hayley Kitching, Penn State
Jalen Elrod, Purdue
Celine Brown, Rutgers
Victoria Heiligenthal, Wisconsin
