With Honor Part 10: Jimmy Wickham Big Ten Medal of Honor Finalist – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/20/2008 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
Week-long series on Ohio State’s Big Ten Medal of Honor Finalists continues Tuesday with Jimmy Wickham. Senior overcame loss of home during Hurricane Katrina to become four-time athletic and academic All-American
Jimmy Wickham
Hometown: Gulfport, Miss.
Major: Exercise Science
Sport: Men’s Gymnastics
Future Plans – “I will be graduating June 2008 and plan to pursue coaching at the collegiate level following college. I have applied to numerous schools across the country for assistant positions. A future goal is to attend graduate school and earn a Masters degree.”
Academic Honors
Four-Time OSU Scholar-Athlete
Three-Time Academic All-Big Ten
Two-Time CGA Academic All-American
Two-Time Team Scholar Award (highest GPA on team)
Athletic Achievements
Four-Time All-American (three times on vault, one on floor)
2006 U.S. National Team Member
2008 All-Big Ten Team
The Wickham Story …
by Emily Meyer, Ohio State athletics communications
After flying under the radar in the junior division, Jimmy Wickham, a gymnast from Gulfport, Miss., enrolled at Ohio State in 2005 with plans to continue his academic pursuits and hopes of walking onto the men’s gymnastics team. Four years later, Wickham will not only be the first from his family to graduate from college this spring, but also leaves Ohio State as a four-time All-American, a U.S. vault title holder and three-time Academic All-Big Ten and CGA scholar-athlete.
A consistent competitor for the Buckeyes, Wickham missed only one of 35 career meets in four seasons, anchoring Ohio State’s floor and vault teams. And in fairytale fashion, the senior captain added a storybook ending to his collegiate career at the 2008 NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Championships April 19 in Stanford’s Maples Pavilion, earning All-America status on floor and vault, the third and fourth national laurels of his career. With the recognition, Wickham became only the eighth gymnast from Ohio State’s distinguished program to earn four or more All-America nods.
At the national championships, Wickham tied for second on floor with a 15.6 and placed third on vault with a 16.325, becoming only the second Buckeye in program history to be tabbed a three-time All-American on vault. In 2006, he placed second on vault while in 2007 he finished third to garner the honor. Daren Lynch was the first Buckeye to do so, receiving All-America laurels on vault in 1999, 2000 and ’01. In addition, his All-America status on floor entered him in the record book as the first Buckeye since Randy Monahan in 2005 to earn the national recognition on the event.
“With Jimmy coming in as a walk on and leaving as a four-time All-American, he obviously did a tremendous job his whole career,” Miles Avery, Ohio State head coach, said. “He did an outstanding job representing The Ohio State University as a Buckeye and I’m proud of him.”
Since his rookie season, Wickham served as a mainstay on the Buckeye floor and vault team. Excelling on vault, he ranked in the NCAA’s Top 10 each of his four competitive seasons.
Beyond scoring high amongst collegiate competitors, Wickham added U.S. National title winner to his rsum as a sophomore at USA Gymnastics’ 2006 Winter Cup Challenge. Despite losing his home in Gulfport to Hurricane Katrina in August of 2005, Wickham put his personal issues aside and reached the pinnacle in his gymnastics career, scoring a two-day total of 32.45 to nab the U.S. National vault title and his first spot on the U.S. Men’s Senior National Team. Competing for the U.S., Wickham finished seventh on the event at the 2006 World Cup in Ghent, Belgium.
Increasing the level of difficulty, Wickham ended his career competing one of the sport’s most difficult vaults. In 2008, he led Ohio State on the apparatus at seven of eight competitions during his senior campaign, finishing second on vault with a 16.4 to be named a second-team All-Big Ten selection and earn his third-career All-America honor.
Besides getting it done in the gym, the exercise science major has garnered the College Gymnastics Association First Team All-America Scholar-Athlete accolades twice, earned Academic All-Big Ten honors three times and was an OSU Scholar-Athlete each of his four years.
With plans of pursuing a coaching career in college gymnastics, Wickham enters as a strong candidate given his background of overcoming the odds. His courage led him to Ohio State to pursue an undergraduate degree, a landmark in his family history, and with hard work and a little bit of luck, Wickham fulfilled his dreams as a Buckeye.
The Big Ten Conference Medal of Honor
In 1914 the Conference established a Medal of Honor to be awarded annually at each member institution to a student in the graduating class. An additional award for the top female was instituted in 1982. Chosen by the Athletic Council, the winners of this most prestigious award are the male and female senior student-athletes who have attained the greatest proficiency in both academics and athletics. This honor includes a $5,000 post-graduate scholarship which can be used at an institution of the recipient’s choice.
Ohio State’s men’s and women’s Big Ten Medal of Honor recipients will be announced at the 2008 OSU Scholar-Athlete Dinner at the Columbus Convention Center Wednesday, May 21.
Coming Wednesday … A compiled look at all 10 Ohio State 2008 Big Ten Medal of Honor Finalists
About Ohio State Athletics
The Ohio State University Department of Athletics sponsors 36 fully funded varsity teams 17 for women, 16 for men and three co-educational. The department is committed to providing its more than 900 student-athletes with the finest in academic and athletics support in order to ensure a quality and life-enhancing experience. The Department of Athletics is completely self-supporting and receives no university monies, tax dollars or student fees. In Fiscal Year 2007-08, the Department of Athletics will transfer back to the University more than $25 million in assessments, including nearly $17 million in grant-in-aid costs.
