June 10, 2002

CARRUTHERS, REILING, NOONAN, AND RANDLE EL EARN IU ATHLETE OF THE YEAR HONORS

Bloomington, Ind. -- The Indiana University Athletic Department today recognized junior Danielle Carruthers (women's track and field), junior Sara Reiling (women's diving), junior Pat Noonan (men's soccer), and senior Antwaan Randle El (football) as its Athletes of the Year for the 2001-02 academic year. In addition, the following awards have been presented: Jake Gimbel Award (to the distinguished in athletics and scholarship with outstanding mental attitude) awarded to Milan Rakvica (men's tennis); Anita Aldrich Leadership Award (exemplifies Anita Aldrich's ideals of leadership, scholastic achievement and athletic ability) awarded to Susan Woessner (women's swimming) and Erin Quinn (diving); Big Ten Medals (senior who has maintained an outstanding scholastic rating while distinguishing him/herself in athletic endeavors) awarded to Female: Molly Fonner (water polo) and Male: Colin Rogers (soccer).

Other Indiana award winners included:

IU's Jake Gimbel Award Winner
o Milan Rakvica (Men's Tennis)

IU's Anita Aldrich Leadership Award Winner
o Susan Woessner (Women's Swimming) and Erin Quinn (Women's Diving)

IU's Balfour Award Winners
o Zach Otte (Baseball)
o Jared Jeffries (Men's Basketball)
o Chad Andrews (Men's Cross Country)
o Antwaan Randle El (Football)
o Heath Peters (Men's Golf)
o Pat Noonan (Men's Soccer)
o David Schulze (Men's Swimming)
o Marc Carlton (Men's Diving)
o Rahman Smiley (Men's Diving)
o Dino Efthimiou (Men's Track & Field)
o Viktor Sveda (Wrestling)
o Jill Chapman (Women's Basketball)
o Mindy Peterson (Women's Cross Country)
o Kayla Bashore (Field Hockey)
o Karen Dennison (Women's Golf)
o Rebecca England (Rowing)
o Kelly Kram (Women's Soccer)
o Stormy Hanson (Softball)
o Susan Woessner (Women's Swimming)
o Erin Quinn (Women's Diving)
o Amanda Field (Women's Tennis)
o Rachelle Boone (Women's Track & Field)
o Melissa Brewer (Volleyball)
o Kristin Stanford (Water Polo)

IU's Aline Robinson Mental Attitude Award
o Katie Pollom (Volleyball)
o Becky Obrecht (Women's Cross Country)
o Akila Jones (Field Hockey)
o Stacy Peterson (Women's Soccer)
o Karie Schlukebir (Women's Tennis)
o Cassandra Cardinell (Women's Diving)
o Molly Fonner (Water Polo)
o Tiffany Fisher (Women's Golf)
o Stormy Hanson (Softball)
o Heather Cassady (Women's Basketball)
o Danielle Carruthers (Women's Track & Field)
o Merdith DeCosta (Rowing)
o Susan Woessner (Women's Swimming)

For the season Indiana University student-athletes...
o Earned Academic All-Big Ten honors 185 times this season
o Earned All-American honors 22 times this year
o Won seven Big Ten Athlete of the Year awards
o Won 23 individual/relay Big Ten Championships
o Earned All-Big Ten honors 52 times this year

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Noonan, a Ballwin, Missouri native, capped off his junior season by leading the Hoosiers to its fifth straight College Cup appearance and National Championship runner-up.

"This award comes as a huge surprise and really quite a shock. There are so many great male athletes at Indiana University, to be given this honor is really special," Noonan said. "It is always nice to be recognized nationally, but this is the highest honor I have received so far. Big Ten Player of the Year and All-American is nice, but to be honored by Indiana University like this, is my best award yet."

Honored by the Hoosier coaching staff as the 2001 Most Valuable Player Award, Noonan also received national recognition as he led the Hoosiers in almost every offensive category this past season with 44 points, 16 goals, five game-winning goals, 12 assists, 109 shots and 41 shots on goal.

"Pat is a special player who plays his best in the big games," Indiana Men's Soccer Head Coach Jerry Yeagley said. "This is a tremendous honor for Pat. It is a pleasure coaching him and it is players like Pat that make Indiana soccer what it is."

Noonan was also among the 11 players that Soccer America selected as College Men's MVPs. The junior forward was one of the 15 finalists for the Hermann Trophy and received All-American status for the second consecutive year. Noonan also finished runner-up to Luchi Gonzalez of SMU in the Missouri Athletic Club Player of the Year Award. Other accolades on Noonan's resume from this past year are first team All-Region, first team All-Big Ten and Big Ten Player of the Year. The Hoosier leader, who has now led IU in offense the past two seasons, guided Indiana to its ninth conference title in the 11-year history of Big Ten soccer in 2001.
2002 Athlete of the Year: Pat Noonan, Men's Soccer

Randle El, who earned his degree prior to the 2001 season, completed his career as the most productive dual-threat quarterback in the history of college football. The Riverdale, Ill., product capped a stellar senior season by being recognized as the first-team All-America quarterback by the Football Writers Association of America. In addition, he was selected as the Big Ten Conference's Offensive Player-of-the-Year as well as the league's first-team signal caller. He finished sixth in the 2001 Heisman Trophy balloting and secured the most votes in the Midwest Region. He was also named as the team co-Most Valuable Player, along with unanimous first-team All-Big Ten running back Levron Williams. As a senior, Randle El completed 118 of 231 passes for 1,664 yards and nine touchdowns and rushed for 964 yards and eight scores. He also helped the Hoosiers to wins over rivals Michigan State, Purdue, and Kentucky, in addition to a 63-32 blowout at Wisconsin and a 56-21 victory over Northwestern.

"This is a tremendous honor and I can only begin to imagine the names of some of the other IU student-athletes that have been recognized with this award through the years," said Randle El. "The nice thing about this award is that at Indiana it isn't hollow because I also had to succeed in the classroom, and I did by earning my degree. I'm also proud of the fact that, while we were one win shy of making a bowl game last season, we played as well as any team in the Big Ten over the second half of the season and our senior class set the tone for future teams."

In 44 career games, Randle El passed for 7,469 yards and 42 touchdowns, while rushing for 3,895 yards and 44 scores. He finished his career having rushed for more yards than any quarterback in NCAA Division I-A history. In his final college game, he passed Doug Flutie to move into fifth place on the NCAA Division I-A total yardage list and became the first player in major college football to record 2,500 total yards in four consecutive seasons.

Versus Northwestern, the electric Randle El, who also punted, returned punts, and played wide receiver during his career, became the first and only player in major college football history to pass for 40 touchdowns and score 40 touchdowns. He also finished his career as the only player in college football history to pass for 6,000 yards and rush for 3,000 yards.

Randle El also competed for the IU basketball and baseball teams and was selected in the second-round of the 2002 National Football League Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

2002 IU Athlete of the Year: Antwaan Randle El, Football

Carruthers, the 2002 Big Ten Indoor and Outdoor Athlete of the Year, was an All-American for the second straight year in the 100 meter hurdles and for the third consecutive year in the 4x100 meter relay.

"Things went really well for me this year," Carruthers said. "I had a good season and all the hard work paid off. I was able to stay focused and the coaches prepared me really well. I am going to continue to work hard, if not harder, and I am going to go on and keep doing bigger things. It's nice to get Big Ten awards and now IU awards, and next I want to be recognized in the world while representing Indiana."

Carruthers ran a blistering time of 12.68 seconds in the 100 meter hurdles at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships to capture the conference title in the event. Her time was not only the fastest of any American woman this year and the fastest of any collegiate athlete by a significant margin, but was also the second-fastest of any woman in the world, be it college or professional. Her performance at Big Tens should come as no surprise, as she consistently turned in times that ranked among the best in the nation during the outdoor season. Carruthers ran NCAA-automatic qualifying times in the 100 meter hurdles on six different occasions during the outdoor season and turned in six times better than 13 seconds. In addition to her Big Ten Championship, she was also the champion of the Penn Relays as well as the Florida Relays.

"This is a great honor for her, obviously," Indiana women's track and field head coach Randy Heisler said. "She has accomplished so much this year. There are a lot of really good athletes at IU this year, but Danielle is at another level. She is one of the best in the nation and best in the world at what she does."
2002 IU Athlete of the Year: Danielle Carruthers, Women's Track and Field

Reiling, a 2000 Olympian and 2002 Big Ten Diver of the Championship, earned All-America honors and set school records on all three boards. She becomes just the fourth female athlete and the second diver to be awarded the honor on two occasions as she also won it in 2000.

"I am honored to be co-athlete of the year," said Reiling. "I really worked hard and had a great season. This is the second time around for me and it is a great feeling. With the quality of athletes at Indiana, being a two-time athlete of the year is a wonderful honor."

Reiling, a five-time and current U.S. National Team member, won two conference titles at the 2002 Big Ten Championships, one-meter springboard and 10-meter tower, and finished as the silver medalist on the three-meter springboard. At the NCAA Championships, Reiling had a career event. She finished as the silver medalist on the three-meter springboard behind 2000 Olympic finalist Blythe Hartley and was the bronze medal-winner on the one-meter behind Hartley and Russian World Champion Yulia Pakhalina. The 2002 World Cup Team Trials was another stomping ground for Reiling. She finished third on the three-meter springboard and finished second on the 10-meter platform to qualify her for the FINA Diving World Cup in Seville, Spain in late June. In 2002, Reiling set nine school records and established a mark on the three-meter that not many, including all-time great Indiana divers, could come close to. Additionally, throughout the season Reiling has performed several dives in competition that no other woman diver in the world has ever performed in practice or competition.

"This honor is well-deserved," said Head Coach Dr. Jeff Huber. "She has worked hard this year, maybe harder than she ever has. We have had some great divers in the past, but Sara eclipsed all of them with the records she set this year. I am proud of her and we hope that the hard work and dedication continues to carry her to new heights."

2002 IU Athlete of the Year: Sara Reiling, Women's Diving