Candella, Dow Recognized as Outstanding Sportsmanship Award Winners – Ohio State Buckeyes
6/3/2010 12:00:00 AM | General
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Taylor Candella of the men’s cross country team and Hillary Dow, a member of the women’s gymnastics team were recognized as Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship Award winners the Big Ten Conference announced Thursday. The senior pair joins 20 other student-athletes from around the league who demonstrated positive sportsmanship throughout the 2009-10 academic year.
Among Ohio State’s 36 Sportsmanship Award honorees, Candella and Dow distinguished themselves not only through sportsmanship, but excelled in the classroom and demonstrated good citizenship in the community as well. In all, the 22 outstanding conference honorees were chosen from a group of 276 student-athletes.
A native of West Chester, Ohio, Candella was recognized as the University’s Outstanding Sportsman of the Year for the 2008-09 season by the Big Ten Conference. Candella enjoyed arguably his best season in 2006 when he earned first team All-Big Ten honors during the indoor season and helped the DMR team to a school record that year. Throughout his career, Candella consistently posted top times in the 800m, 1000m and 1500m runs on the track and provided exceptional leadership on both the track and cross country courses. Taylor was actively involved in the community and fund-raising events while serving as the president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Board.
“I have never had a better ‘teammate’ in a student-athlete on our program,” head coach Robert Gary said. “Often times, track teams become somewhat fragmented between event area groups, but Taylor always moved between these groups effortlessly. His volunteer work for the Columbus Boys and Girls, organization of Buckeyes Got Talent, his work at our camps demonstrates his well-roundedness. All the different avenues he excels at make him the person he is and more importantly, those around him are much better because of Taylor.”
Dow never once gave up on her teammates, even when the squad sustained six season-ending injuries. The vocal senior captain kept the team’s spirit up through the tough early-season meets like only a good leader can. Near the end of the season, Dow, a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, suffered a severe high right ankle sprain to go with the stress fracture she already had on her left ankle.
On crutches, Dow continued to train on uneven bars and routinely stayed at the practice facility to ice and rehab, insisting she was available to compete if the team needed her. The second-team All-Big Ten honoree went on to score a personal-best 9.800 on the event in Ohio State’s upset of Auburn before competing for the Buckeyes at both the Big Ten and NCAA regional championships.
“Despite the challenging year we faced, Hillary never wavered in her belief that every moment as a student-athlete is a gift,” Carey Fagan, Ohio State head coach, said. “She constantly reminded the team of how fortunate we are to be a part of collegiate athletics and how important it is for the team to represent Ohio State with great pride.
“Her positive attitude is contagious and she has earned the respect of so many people at Ohio State.”
2010 Outstanding Sportsmanship Award Winners
| Illinois | |
| Juice Williams, Sr., Football | Ashley Edinger, Sr., Volleyball |
| Indiana | |
| Nate Everhart, Sr., Wrestling | Sarah Pease, Sr., Women’s Cross Country |
| Iowa | |
| A.J. Edds, Sr., Football | Laura Cilek, Jr., Women’s Golf |
| Michigan | |
| Jason Jung, Jr., Men’s Tennis | Brittany May, Sr., Women’s Water Polo |
| Michigan State | |
| Franklin Gomez, Sr., Wrestling | Lauren Aitch, Sr., Women’s Basketball |
| Minnesota | |
| Jayson Ness, Sr., Wrestling | Gabriele Anderson, Sr., Women’s Track and Field |
| Northwestern | |
| Eric Metzler, Sr., Wrestling | Beth Marshall, Sr., Women’s Basketball |
| Ohio State | |
| Taylor Candella Sr., Men’s Cross Country | Hillary Dow, Sr., Women’s Gymnastics |
| Penn State | |
| Jason Yeisley, Sr., Men’s Soccer | Daphne Skelos, Sr., Women’s Swimming and Diving |
| Purdue | |
| Jacob Palmer, Jr., Men’s Track and Field | Kristen Arthurs, Sr., Volleyball |
| Wisconsin | |
| Chris Maragos, Sr., Football | Vicky Opitz, Sr., Women’s Rowing |
