May 15, 2013
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Junior wrestler Derek St. John and senior field hockey player Jessica Barnett have been named the University of Iowa’s 2013 Male and Female Athletes of the Year. The duo will be Iowa’s nominees for the 2013 Big Ten Athletes of the Year awards. Winners will be announced in late June, following a vote by a panel of Big Ten media voters.
St. John, a junior from Parnell, Iowa, capped his 31-2 season with the 157-pound national title at the 2013 NCAA Championships. He strung together five straight wins to claim his first career national crown and become the school’s 32nd three-time All-American. He led the Hawkeyes with 31 wins and three technical falls, posted a perfect 8-0 record in Big Ten duals, and his 85 dual points scored ranked second on the team. St. John was also the recipient of Iowa’s Mike Howard Most Valuable Wrestler Award and Mike J. McGivern Senior Award for most courageous wrestler.
Barnett, a native of North Vancouver, Canada, started every game (77) of her Hawkeye career. Iowa’s 2012 Female Athlete of the Year, she is a two-time All-American, and three-time All-Big Ten honoree, regional All-American and Big Ten all-Tournament selection. Barnett was named a second team All-American by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) and Synapse Sports, earning first team Longstreth/NFHCA West Region honors as a senior. A two-time team captain, she has been named the team MVP as well as Big Ten Player of the Week three times. Barnett has competed for the Canadian Senior National Team and the Canadian Junior National Team.
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Senior Jessica Barnett |
Eight wrestling and nine field hockey student-athletes have earned Iowa’s nomination for the conference athlete of the year awards. The Hawkeyes have produced five winners, including wrestlers Ed Banach (1983), Barry Davis (1985) and Brent Metcalf (2008), and field hockey standout Kristy Gleason (1994).