ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Big Ten announced on Wednesday (Jan. 28) that Luuk Pelkmans and Romi Tamir each won Big Ten Indoor Field and Freshman of the Week honors.
The last Illini woman to win Big Ten Indoor Field Athlete of the Week was Sophia Beckmon on Jan. 14, 2026, and the last freshman of the week honor was nearly a year ago with Lucie Kienast on Jan. 29, 2025. Tamir is the first one to win them both in the same week in program history.
The last Illinois man to win Big Ten Indoor Field Athlete of the Week was Jip de Greef on Jan. 29, 2025. Pelkmans is the first Illini man to earn B1G Freshman of the Week honors and, naturally, the first to win both in the same week.
Pelkmans honors come on the heels of his school record breaking heptathlon with a score of 6,127 points. That mark is also the NCAA lead, No. 2 score in the world currently and the second-best score by a Dutch heptathlete all time.
Tamir earned these honors for her new UI Armory record triple jump of 13.50m (44-3 1/2) which shattered Yvonne Mensah's 19-year-old UI Armory record of 13.30m (43-7 3/4) set back in 2007. Her mark is also the No. 2 triple jump in the nation for the 2026 season so far.
