Aug. 22, 2010
NORMAL, Ill. -
At the 10th annual Walk of Champions Sunday evening, redshirt junior baseball player Kevin Tokarski and sophomore track and field thrower Brittany Smith received the Illinois State Athlete of the Year awards for the 2009-10 season. Tokarski received the Milt Weisbecker Male Athlete of the Year award and Smith received the Jill Hutchison Female Athlete of the Year award at the event that welcomes new Redbird student-athletes to campus.
Tokarski was a key component at the top of the lineup in Illinois State's MVC Regular-Season and State Farm MVC Tournament title runs. The first Joe Carter MVC Player of the Year in school history was also a first-team All-Valley selection and earned All-American recognition from Louisville Slugger, ABCA/Rawlings and Ping! Baseball. Tokarski led the Redbirds and ranked among the tops in the nation in batting average (.412), hits (84), runs scored (70), RBI (53), doubles (25), stolen bases (33), on-base percentage (.538) and slugging percentage (.681). His 25 doubles set the ISU single-season record and he broke the school's career stolen bases mark (60) in just two seasons.
The six other male nominees were Tommy Bliefnick (golf), Tim Glover (track and field), Scott Krapf (cross country/track and field), Zach Kutch (football), Dinma Odiakosa (basketball) and Timon Reichelt (tennis).
The male athlete of the year award is named for Weisbecker, the former athletics director who led Illinois State through times of change from 1966 to 1974. As athletics director, he successfully led the university's athletic program from the NCAA College Division into Division I status. Additionally, Weisbecker had an outstanding record in seven seasons as the Redbird's head golf coach, including a fourth-place NCAA College Division finish in 1969.
Smith had a remarkable freshman campaign as a Redbird thrower. After an indoor season with five top-five finishes, she flourished in the outdoor season. Smith swept the shot put, discus and hammer at both the Redbird Spring Invitational and EIU Big Blue Classic. At the State Farm MVC Championship, she placed second in both the discus and shot put to qualify for the NCAA West Regional, where she finished sixth and 13th, respectively. She advanced to the NCAA Championship in the discus, coming in 19th place. Smith wasn't done with the shot put, however, as she went on to win the event at the USA Track and Field Junior National Championships and finish seventh at the IAAF World Junior Championships.
The six other female nominees were Ashleen Bracey (women's basketball), Stacey Miller (golf), Danielle Mutters (soccer), Kara Nelson (softball), Abby Olson (softball) and Katelyn Prorok (swimming and diving).
The female athlete of the year award is named in honor of Hutchison, who retired from coaching women's basketball in 1999 after racking up 461 wins in 28 seasons at Illinois State. Now a radio analyst for Redbird broadcasts, Hutchison was a pioneer and advocate for women in athletics throughout her coaching career. A banner in her honor hangs from the Redbird Arena rafters and she was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009.
