VANDERVELDE
AND PRASKA NAMED BIG TEN MEDAL OF HONOR WINNERS
PARK
RIDGE, Ill. -- The Big Ten Conference office announced Wednesday that
Iowa football player Julian Vandervelde and sprinter and distance
runner Bethany Praska have been named Iowa’s 2011 Big Ten Medal
of Honor winners.
First awarded in 1914, the Big Ten endowed a Medal of Honor to be given
annually to a student in the graduating class of each university that
demonstrated proficiency in scholarship and athletics. In 1982, the
Medal of Honor was expanded to include a senior female athlete from
each institution.
Praska, who hails from Longmont, Colo., is a two-time Academic All-Big
Ten honoree who was previously named Iowa’s women’s track
Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winner. During the 2011 indoor season, she
earned All-American status after placing seventh at the NCAA
Championships in 800 meters (2:07.24). Praska set the school record for
800 meters at NCAA Prelims (2:05.01). She was the Big Ten champion in
the 600 meters, running a team-leading and collegiate-best 1:28.14 in
the finals, which ranks as the second fastest time in Iowa history.
Praska also ran on the 1,600-meter relay team that posted the top four
times in school history. In the current 2011 outdoor season, she was
Big Ten champion in the 800 meters (2:06.63) and ran on the conference
champion 4x400 relay team (3:36.51). In addition, Praska anchored the
record setting sprint medley team that was crowned Drake Relays
champion (3:48.63) and ran the lead leg on the 1,600-meter relay team
that set the school record with a time of 3:35.93 at the Drake Relays.
She will compete this weekend at the NCAA Championships in Des Moines.
Vandervelde, a native of Davenport, Iowa, was a four-time Academic
All-Big Ten honoree and a three-time ESPN/CoSIDA District Seven
Academic All-American. The 6-3, 300-pounder was named second team
All-Big Ten by league coaches and media and was named third-team
All-Big Ten by Phil Steele’s College Football in 2010 as a
senior. In addition, the former Davenport Central High School standout
was a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy and earned the
Forest Evashevski Scholastic Achievement Award in 2010. Vandervelde
started all 13 games at left guard as a senior and made 37 career
starts. He was drafted by Philadelphia in the fifth round of the 2011
NFL Draft.
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