World record-setting swimmer Hunter Armstrong and women’s hockey star Sophie Jaques are Ohio State’s athletes of the year.
Ohio State named Armstrong and Jaques as its winners of the annual awards on Friday, making them eligible for the Big Ten male and female athlete of the year awards, which will be announced in late June.
Your 2021-22 Ohio State !
— Ohio State Buckeyes (@OhioStAthletics) June 17, 2022
world record holder and B1G Champion @ArmstrongH_ of @OhioStSwimDive
NCAA and WCHA champion @_sophiejaques of @OhioStateWHKY
https://t.co/5HHBNeiKqP | #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/UbsNQj3lxk
Armstrong is the first swimmer to win Ohio State’s Male Athlete of the Year award. He earns the honor after winning five gold medals in the 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard freestyle relay, 400-yard freestyle relay and 200-yard medley relay at the Big Ten championship. He also finished fifth in the 100-yard backstroke, the best finish of any Ohio State swimmer, at the NCAA championships.
Most spectacularly, Armstrong broke a world record at April’s Phillips 66 International Team Trials, where he swam the 50-meter backstroke in 23.71 seconds, the fastest time ever recorded in competition.
Armstrong is set to compete in this summer’s FINA World Championships, which begin Saturday in Budapest, Hungary.
Jaques becomes the second hockey player to win Ohio State’s Female Athlete of the Year award, following Jincy Dunne two years ago. She wins that award after leading Ohio State to its first-ever hockey national championship with one of the greatest seasons ever for a collegiate defenseman.
Jaques led the championship-winning Buckeyes with 59 points (21 goals, 38 assists), which were not only the third-most in the NCAA this year but the second-most ever for a true defenseman in women’s college hockey. She tied Ohio State’s school record for the most points by any player in a single season and became Ohio State’s first-ever top-three finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award.
