Sophie Jaques and James Trotter Named Ohio State Athletes of the Year
6/28/2023 12:06:00 PM | General, Men's Tennis, Women's Ice Hockey
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winner Sophie Jaques (women’s hockey) and 2023 NCAA doubles champion James Trotter (men’s tennis) are Ohio State’s 2023 Athletes of the Year. Both will now be placed on the ballots for Big Ten Athlete of the Year awards, with the winners to be announced by the conference in late June.
In her final season at Ohio State, Jaques continued to lead the Buckeyes to new heights. She became the first Ohio State player, and just the second defenseman, to win the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, an award recognizing the top player in NCAA Division I women’s hockey. Jaques also earned the title of WCHA Player of the Year and Defender of the Year.
During her Kazmaier campaign, she helped the team to its first WCHA regular season title in program history, a program-record 33-win season and a spot in the national championship game for the second consecutive year. The 2023 Ohio State Big Ten Medal of Honor recipient scored a team-high 24 goals and added 24 assists to finish the season second on the team with 48 points as a defenseman.
Jaques, a Toronto, Ont. native, led the nation in power play goals, helping Ohio State to the top-ranked power play for the second year in a row. The First Team All-American and All-WCHA honoree was the top scoring defensemen nationally, leading the way in points and goals and ranked 14th in points among all players. She blocked a team-high 58 shots and was plus-37 on ice.
This year’s Ohio State Female Athlete of the Year honor is Jaques’ second in as many years.
Trotter had a tremendous finish to his career as he was named the ITA National Most Improved Senior. He earned All-America honors in both singles and doubles and became just the second Buckeye doubles team to win the NCAA Doubles Championship. He was also named the Big Ten Tournament’s Most Valuable Player and was a first team All-Big Ten honoree.
The Hyogo, Japan native was a remarkable 29-1 in singles matches this season. He also had 22-8 doubles record and was ranked in the Top 35 all season in singles and Top 25 in doubles, including seven weeks in the Top 10. He finished the season ranked No. 21 in singles and No. 6 in doubles.
Trotter was one of the leaders for a team that won a 17th consecutive Big Ten title, claimed the Big Ten Tournament title, reached the NCAA championship match for the third time in program history and finished with a 34-3 record.
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