May 30, 2013
EVANSTON, Ill. - The Big Ten announced on Thursday the 24 student-athletes named Outstanding Sportsmanship Award winners for the 2012-13 academic year. Charlie Rimkus (Tustin, Calif./Beckman), a senior from the men's swimming & diving team team, and senior women's basketball player Kate Popovec (Canfield, Ohio/Canfield) were selected as the two Northwestern recipients.
The 24 overall winners of this year's award were chosen from a group of more than 300 student-athletes honored throughout he academic year who had displayed positive sportsmanship.
Rimkus, who swam distance free, fly and IM, ranked on NU's top times list in eight different events for the 2012-13 season. The senior leader was the Wildcats' fastest in the 200 fly, 200 IM and 400 IM while ranking second in the 200 free, 500 free, 1,000 free and 1,650 free. Rimkus also was very active outside of the pool, serving as the president of the Northwestern Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) during the year.
Popovec, a 6-3 forward, was a key contributor for the Wildcats off the bench during the 2012-13 season. She played in 27 games, averaging 7.4 minutes in a reserve role. The two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree was pursuing her Master's in Sports Administration during the season.
One member from each varsity sports team on every Big Ten campus was chosen by his or her institution as a Sportsmanship Award honoree. From each university's list, two Outstanding Sportsmanship Award winners were then selected. All of the Sportsmanship Award honorees have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, these student-athletes must be in good academic standing and must have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.
The 2013 Outstanding Sportsmanship Award Winners from all 12 Big Ten institutions are as follows:
Illinois
Bruno Abdelnour, Men's Tennis
Amber Moore, Women's Basketball
Indiana
Michael Basil, Baseball
Leslie Hureau, Women's Tennis
Iowa
Eric May, Men's Basketball
Mareike Schrulle, Cross Country
Michigan
Jordan Kovacs, Football
Claire McElheny, Volleyball
Michigan State
Adreian Payne, Men's Basketball
Caroline Powers, Women's Golf
Minnesota
Andre Hollins, Men's Basketball
Allie Phillips, Women's Soccer
Nebraska
Rex Burkhead, Football
Emily Wong, Women's Gymnastics
Northwestern
Charlie Rimkus, Men's Swimming & Diving
Kate Popovec, Women's Basketball
Ohio State
Trey Wilkes, Men's Lacrosse
Melissa Rennie, Softball
Penn State
Nick Colella, Men's Basketball
Gizelle Studevent, Women's Basketball
Purdue
Jakob Engel, Men's Track & Field
Courtney Moses, Women's Basketball
Wisconsin
Jared Berggren, Men's Basketball
Lindsay Danielson, Women's Golf
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