Award Winners Announced at 2026 UI Athletics Senior Student-Athlete Reception

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Several Big Ten Conference and University awards were presented at the 2026 UI Athletics Senior Student-Athlete Reception on Friday afternoon at Kinnick Stadium.

Ava Bayless (women's wrestling) and Will Ryan (men’s track & field/cross country) were named Iowa’s Big Ten Medal of Honor recipients, Taylor McCabe (women's basketball) and Easton Fleshman (men's wrestling) were awarded Big Ten Post-Graduate Scholarships and McCabe and Jeremiah Pittman (football) earned the University’s Robert F. Ray Faculty Award.

The Big Ten Medal of Honor is the conference's most exclusive award, and the first of its kind in intercollegiate athletics to recognize academic and athletic excellence. The Big Ten Medal of Honor was first awarded in 1915 to one male and one female student-athlete from the graduating class of each university who had "attained the greatest proficiency in athletics and scholastic work."

The 2024 NCWWC National Champion, Bayless (Greenville, Pennsylvania) boasted a career record of 87-11 with the Hawkeyes. She won two NCWWC regional titles, is a two-time All-American, two-time NWCA Scholastic All-American, NCAA All-American Scholar, and a three-time letterwinner at Iowa. Bayless served three years on the Iowa Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (ISAAC), most recently as the Career & Leadership Co-Chair. An Academic All-Big Ten honoree, Bayless has earned Dean’s List and President’s List honors. She was named as one of Iowa’s two Big Ten Jackie Robinson Community Impact Award honorees earlier this year, for exemplary leadership and service to her community, and was awarded the prestigious University of Iowa Hancher Finkbine Medallion earlier this spring. Bayless will graduate with Honors, earning her degree in human physiology, and will be applying for medical school next year.

Ryan (Waukee, Iowa) will graduate with a degree in human physiology on the pre-medicine and pre-dentistry tracks. He was named as one of Iowa’s two Big Ten Jackie Robinson Community Impact Award honorees and to the AllState Good Works Team earlier this year. A four-time letterwinner in cross country and three-time letterwinner in track and field, Ryan is a five-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and three-time UI Dean's List honoree. He currently ranks tenth all-time at Iowa in the 5,000-meter run. In service, Ryan is deeply committed to giving back, volunteering at the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital and founding the Hawks Supporting Hawks initiative, a charity dedicated to supporting patients in the Stead Family Children’s Hospital. Ryan and fellow student athletes raised over $16,000 this year for the cause. He plans to return for another year of eligibility after graduating with a degree in human physiology. He will start his master's degree in sport & recreation management in the fall at Iowa.

For the Big Ten Conference Postgraduate Scholarship, two student-athletes from each of the 18 Big Ten institutions who plan to continue their education at a graduate degree program were awarded a $7,500 scholarship, based primarily on academic achievements. Students must have maintained at least a 3.2 grade-point-average, demonstrated leadership qualities, served as an excellent role model and intended to continue their academic work beyond their baccalaureate degree at a graduate degree program. The scholarship will be used to pay expenses off the student's postgraduate education to include such related activities as research and teaching, as well as other expenses such as tuition, fees, room and board, and required course-related supplies and books. To retain the scholarship, the recipient must be accepted into a full-time graduate degree program within three years from the fall semester after selection.

McCabe (Fremont, Nebraska) was a three-time letterwinner and two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree for the Hawkeyes. She finished her career with 561 points, 183 rebounds, 113 assists and 38 steals, and is tied for the best three-point shooting percentage (.407) in school history. Her 172 career 3-pointers ranks 10th all-time in program history. McCabe will graduate with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering this spring and will begin her master's degree in structural engineering at Notre Dame in the fall.

Fleshman (Inwood, Iowa) recorded a 17-14 career mark for the Hawkeyes, earning Academic All-Big Ten and Dean's List honors. He also served as ISAAC Co-Career Leadership Chair in 2025-26. A letterwinner and two-time Coaches Appreciation Award winner, he will graduate with a teaching degree in secondary social studies education this spring and will begin his master's degree in sports & recreation management in the fall.

The Robert F. Ray Faculty Representative Award is named after a former dean and longtime UI faculty representative to the Big Ten Conference. The award is annually presented to a male and female student-athlete who demonstrates outstanding academic and athletic excellence and leadership.

Pittman (Palatine, Illinois) played in 39 games during his Hawkeye career, recording 28 tackles, one pass break-up, one QB pressure, and one recovered fumble. A four-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, Pittman was a 2025 National Football Foundation Hampshire Society inductee, and a two-time Coaches Appreciation Award winner on defense. He was one of Iowa's 2023 Big Ten Postgraduate Scholarship recipients and will be graduating with a master's degree in finance this spring.

IOWA’S SENIOR STUDENT-ATHLETE RECEPTION AWARD WINNERS
Big Ten Medal of Honor
Ava Bayless (Women's Wrestling)
Will Ryan (Men's Track & Field/Cross Country)

Big Ten Post-Graduate Scholarships
Taylor McCabe (Women's Basketball)
Easton Fleshman (Men's Wrestling)

Robert F. Ray Faculty Award
Taylor McCabe (Women's Basketball)
Jeremiah Pittman (Football)