Gronowski, McCabe Earn Iowa’s B1G Outstanding Sportsmanship Award

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Former Hawkeyes Mark Gronowski (football) and Taylor McCabe (women's basketball) have been selected as Iowa’s 2026 Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship Award winners. The duo was chosen from Iowa’s list of 2025-26 Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winners, which had a representative from each varsity sport.

Gronowski directed Iowa’s offense in 2025, setting multiple school records in the process. The native of Naperville, Illinois, broke program records for most single-season rushing touchdowns by a quarterback (16) and rushing yards (545). He rushed for at least one score in 11 straight games, the longest streak ever by a Big Ten quarterback. Gronowski won a combined 58 career games at South Dakota State (49) and Iowa (9), the most by a starting quarterback in NCAA history (all levels). He also became the first Hawkeye to rush, throw and receive a touchdown in the same game (at USC), recording 2,286 yards of total offense (1,741 passing; 545 rushing). In 2025, he was a National Football Foundation Hampshire Honor Society inductee, a CSC Academic All-District selection, ReliaQuest Bowl Game Most Valuable Player. He also earned the Roy Carver Most Valuable Player and Hayden Fry team awards on offense, and was named a Permanent Team Captain. 

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

The Big Ten first awarded the Outstanding Sportsmanship honor in 2003. The student-athletes chosen were individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior, were in good academic standing and demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.

Following is a list of Iowa’s past Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship Award Winners:

Year	Men’s Award Winner	Women’s Award Winner
2003	Stuart Waters, Men’s Tennis	Kristin Johnson, Softball
2004	Nate Kaeding, Football	Laura Chipman, Softball
2005	Joe Johnston, Wrestling	Jennifer Skolaski, Swimming & Diving
2006	Adam Haluska, Men’s Basketball	Liz Grajewski, Women’s Gymnastics
2007	Adam Haluska, Men’s Basketball	Kara Zappone, Field Hockey
2008	Bart van Monsjou, Men’s Tennis	Brittany Keyes, Rowing
2009	Christian Bierich, Men’s Tennis	Wendy Ausdemore, Women’s Basketball
2010	A.J. Edds, Football	Laura Cilek, Women’s Golf
2011	Chris Brant, Men’s Golf	Kelsey Cermak, Women’s Basketball
2012	Matt Gatens, Men’s Basketball	Betsy Flood, Women’s Track & Field
2013	Eric May, Men’s Basketball	Mareike Schrulle, Women’s Cross Country
2014	James Morris, Football	Theairra Taylor, Women’s Basketball
2015	Mark Weisman, Football	Melissa Dixon, Women’s Basketball
2016	Drew Ott, Football	Amy Ihm, Women’s Golf
2017	Nicholas Baer, Men’s Basketball	Sophie Plasteras, Field Hockey
2018	Spencer Lee, Wrestling	Hannah Stewart, Women’s Basketball
2019	Alex Marinelli, Wrestling	Hannah Stewart, Women’s Basketball
2020	Connor McCaffery, Men’s Basketball	Makenzie Meyer, Women’s Basketball
2021	Mehki Sargent, Football	Kate Martin, Women’s Basketball
2022	Patrick McCaffery, Men’s Basketball	Bailey Ortega, Volleyball
2023	Kaevon Merriweather, Football	Jordan Amelon, Women’s Golf
2024	Jay Higgins, Football	Kate Martin, Women’s Basketball
2025	Nick Jackson, Football	Alix O'Brien, Women’s Swimming & Diving
2026	Mark Gronowski, Football	Taylor McCabe, Women's Basketball