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On Thursday night, Rutgers Athletics honored its student-athletes for the many successes that occurred during the 2020-21 season. It was the 7th Annual R Awards and second consecutive held with a virtual ceremony.
Rutgers achieved the best overall winning percentage for the entire athletic department in Big Ten play since joining the league in 2014. Ten different programs qualified for postseason play in the NCAA Championships either as a team or individual.
The biggest award of the night was the Big Ten Medal of Honor, which is awarded annually to one male and one female student-athlete from the graduating class of each member institution who have demonstrated excellence on and off the field throughout their college career. It’s one of the most prestigious awards in all of college Athletics and now in its 107th year.
Field Hockey’s Gianna Glatz and Kieran Mullins of men’s lacrosse were named recipients of the Big Ten Medal of Honor. Both were well deserving after excelling on and off the field this past year.
The Bauer Athlete of the Year male and female award winners were Adam Charalambides of men’s lacrosse and Amirah Ali of women’s soccer. Both were named All-Americans and led their respective teams to NCAA Tournament victories.
Additional award winners included:
Freshman of the Year - John Poznanski (wrestling) & Hannah Heideveld (rowing)
Sophomore of the Year - Jackson Turley (wrestling) & Hannah Joyner (gymnastics)
Junior of the Year - Aron Cruickshank (football) & Femke Paulis (rowing)
Senior of the Year - Colin Kirst (men’s lacrosse) & Gianna Glatz (field hockey)
To read complete bios for every award winner, click here.
Men’s lacrosse had three student-athletes win awards, the most of any Rutgers program.
Here are the academic team award winners:
Most Improved Men’s Team GPA: Cross Country and Baseball
Most Improved Women’s Team GPA: Lacrosse and Rowing
Highest Men’s Team GPA: Cross country
Highest Women’s Team GPA: Golf
You can watch the entire R Awards ceremony here: