ADDITIONAL INFO: Magazine Release
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Sophie Jaques of the Ohio State women’s hockey team is the 2022 Arthur Ashe Jr. Female Sports Scholar of the Year, the Diverse: Issues in Higher Education magazine announced. Along with the Scholar of the Year award, five Buckeye student-athletes – Jaques, Donovan Hewitt (men’s gymnastics), Paula Luis (synchronized swimming), Tyler Johnson (track and field) and Parker Mikesch (men’s volleyball) – have earned individual Sports Scholar awards for their respective sports.
Jaques, who is a two-time Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar for women’s hockey, had a record-breaking season for the 2022 NCAA champion Buckeyes. She led the team with 38 assists and an Ohio State defenseman single season record 59 points. Her point production ranks third in the country among all players and she finished the season with the third-most points per game (1.55) nationally. While she was on the ice scoring points, Jaques also helped the Buckeyes hold their opponents to just 1.53 goals per game. She earned a plus-51 rating for the season, the best in the country. Jaques was on the ice for 94 of Ohio State’s program-record 175 goals this season and she also tallied a team-high 44 blocks on the year. The senior civil engineering major boasts a 3.75 GPA and earned the Western Collegiate Hockey Association WCHA) Outstanding Student-Athlete of the Year. In addition, Jaques was named Ohio State’s first top-three finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award.
Graduate sprinter Tyler Johnson is in the midst of outdoor season after completing an impressive indoor season for the Buckeyes. Johnson was named a finalist for the 2022 Arthur Ashe Male Sport Scholar of the Year award and was recently awarded the Big Ten Medal of Honor. The Big Ten Athlete of the Championships and All-Big Ten First Team honoree won both the 200m (20.76) and the 400m (45.31) at this year’s indoor Big Ten Championships. He led the team with five event wins during the season and qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships in the 400m (as he ranked third in the country in the event), where he earned USTFCCCA All-American Second Team honors for his performance. During the indoor season, Johnson had the fastest Ohio State time in the 200m, 300m and 400m and the second-fastest in the 60m. Johnson has already run a leg on two winning relay squads for the Buckeyes this outdoor season. He earned a win in the 400m (44.95) for a Joe May Invitational meet record and second-fastest time in the country.
Junior all-around gymnast Donovan Hewitt helped lead Ohio State to a share of its first Big Ten Championship since the conference began awarding a regular-season champions in 2019 as the Buckeyes went 3-1 in dual meets with Big Ten opponents this season. Hewitt earned wins on rings for Ohio State at the Big Ten team championship meet (14.450) and NCAA qualifier (14.166). The All-Big Ten Second Team honoree finished the regular season ranked third on rings (14.213) and 20th on vault (14.350) based on four-score averages. Hewitt, a political science major, was named CGA Specialist of the Week on February 23. He earned five regular season event wins this year – rings vs. Michigan (14.200), vault vs. Army/William & Mary (14.800), rings at Oklahoma (14.000) and two wins in the Big Ten Championship clinching win vs. Nebraska (rings – 14.300, vault – 14.450). The 2022 Ohio State Scholar Athlete tied for the highest score among OSU’s roster on vault this season (14.800) and finished in the top-three on rings in every dual meet.
Senior synchronized swimmer Paula Luis helped her team to the 2022 U.S. Collegiate National Championship, the second of her career and the program’s 33rd overall. At the national championship meet, she was a member of the Gray team that took bronze in the team routine. She helped the Gray squad to a second-place finish at the 2022 North Regionals and first at the Jessica Beck Memorial Competition. She earned another first-place result in trio at the Wheaton College Invite. Luis is majoring in accounting and is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree and four-time OSU Scholar-Athlete.
Parker Mikesch recently closed his senior season as a libero for the men’s volleyball team. The 2022 Ohio State Scholar-Athlete led the Buckeyes with 222 digs in a team-high tying 104 sets played this year. Mikesch, a native of Xenia, Ohio, took the court in all 27 matches for Ohio State during the 2022 campaign and tallied a career high 19 digs against Lewis on Feb. 22. Mikesch is a double major in sport industry and psychology and has earned MIVA Academic All-Conference three times in his career and Big Ten Distinguished Scholar accolades twice.
2022 Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar Award
About the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar Award
As the name denotes, the annual Ashe edition is a part of the Diverse: Issues In Higher Education magazine’s quarter-century legacy of recognizing outstanding minority young men and women who have distinguished themselves in their academic and athletic pursuits. In addition to their athletic ability, students named Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars must maintain a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.5, be at least a sophomore academically, and be active on their campuses or in their communities.
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