A pair of record-setting throwers have been named Ohio State's Male and Female Athlete of the Year.
Dwayne Haskins was named Wednesday as Ohio State's Male Athlete of the Year for 2018-19, becoming the first football player to win the award since Troy Smith in 2007, while Sade Olatoye was named as Ohio State's Female Athlete of the Year, becoming the first track and field athlete to win that award since former Buckeye sprinter Christina Manning in 2012.
Haskins wins his award after putting together the most statistically prolific season for a quarterback in Ohio State history. He set Big Ten records with 4,831 passing yards and 50 touchdowns this past season, along with the school record for completion percentage (70.0), and was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy. He became the first football player to ever win six Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week awards in one season, and led the Buckeyes to a 13-1 record, a Big Ten championship and a Rose Bowl win.
Olatoye wins her award after rewriting the school record books in all four of her throwing events – shot put (17.88 meters) and weight throw (24.46 meters) indoors, and shot put (17.88 meters) and hammer throw (69.37 meters) outdoors – and winning the national title in the weight throw at the NCAA Indoor Championships. She finished in the top five nationally in all four of her events, and helped lead the Buckeyes to Big Ten titles for both the indoor and outdoor seasons.
Both athletes are now finalists for the Big Ten Athlete of the Year awards, which will be voted on and announced by the conference last summer. Haskins has a chance to become Ohio State's third straight Big Ten Male Athlete of the Year – former Buckeye wrestler Kyle Snyder won that award for each of the past two years – while Olatoye looks to become Ohio State's first Big Ten Female Athlete of the Year since Manning.
