Griesel, Whittaker Earn Big Ten Awards

Nebraska student-athletes Sam Griesel and Megan Whittaker captured Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship Awards for making significant impacts in their sport and the community in 2022-23. The conference announced its annual honors for each school on Tuesday, June 20.

Griesel (Lincoln, Nebraska), a 6-foot-7 starting guard on the men’s basketball team, averaged 12.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists for the Huskers. He also earned a Sam Foltz 27 Hero Leadership Award for his outstanding contributions to the community. Griesel’s outreach projects included coordinating a blood drive with the American Red Cross that raised nearly 80 units of blood for the Lincoln community. He was also involved with Landon’s Light Foundation, using portions of his NIL deals to raise money for children battling medical conditions such as cancer while providing financial assistance to organizations benefiting children in similar situations.

Whittaker (Elkhorn, Nebraska) was a five-year starter for the Husker women’s golf team. As a graduate student in 2022-23, Whittaker competed in all 38.5 rounds for a Nebraska squad that advanced to NCAA Regional competition for the second time in three seasons. Whittaker finished second among the Huskers with a 73.48 stroke average, which ranked as the fourth-best season average in school history. She earned six individual top-25 tournament finishes on the year before capturing her fourth consecutive Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award. In the community, Whittaker was named one of Nebraska’s Heart & Soul Award winners presented to the top performers in all areas of the award-winning Husker Life Skills program. She capped her time as a student-athlete at Nebraska by participating in the No Filter Service Trip to Panama in May. Whittaker was the Nebraska women’s golf Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winner in both 2021 and 2023, and she also claimed a Sam Foltz 27 Hero Leadership Award in 2021. She was a five-time member of the Tom Osborne Citizenship Team.

All Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winners across all sports have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, these honorees must be in good academic standing and must have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.

Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship Awards (2022-23)

 

ILLINOIS

Alex Palczewski, Football

Kendall Bostic, Women’s Basketball

 

INDIANA

Andrew Capobianco, Men’s Swimming and Diving

Kennedy Reardon, Field Hockey

 

IOWA

Kaevon Merriweather, Football

Jordan Amelon, Women’s Golf

 

MARYLAND

Alex Nitzl, Men’s Soccer

Faith Masonius, Women’s Basketball

 

MICHIGAN

Tito Flores, Baseball

Erin Neustrom, Women’s Water Polo

 

MICHIGAN STATE

Wyatt Rush, Baseball

Mo Jardell, Field Hockey

 

MINNESOTA

Tanner Morgan, Football

CC McGraw, Volleyball

 

NEBRASKA

Sam Griesel, Men’s Basketball

Megan Whittaker, Women’s Golf

 

NORTHWESTERN

Michael Farinelli, Baseball

Grace Reininga, Volleyball

 

OHIO STATE

Kam Babb, Football

Emaly Vatne, Women’s Soccer

 

PENN STATE

Paul DeNaples, Men’s Hockey

Rachel Spilker, Women’s Lacrosse

 

PURDUE

Matt Ramos, Wrestling

Cassidy Hardin, Women’s Basketball

 

RUTGERS

Noah Vedral, Football

Sofia Chichaikina, Women’s Swimming & Diving

 

WISCONSIN 

Constantin Bensch, Men’s Swimming & Diving

Ava Markham, Women’s Tennis