CEHS students shine at Husker athletic honors

11 Apr 2017    

The College of Education and Human Sciences was well represented April 9 when the Nebraska Athletics Department recognized its best and brightest student-athletes at the Lied Center. The most coveted awards were collected by two current and one former CEHS students.

This year’s Nebraska Female Student-Athlete of the Year and Big Ten Medal of Honor recipient was two-time all-America Tierra Williams, a long jump and triple jump specialist on the Husker track and field team. She is a senior in the Department of Child, Youth and Family Studies (CYAF). North Dakota native Drew Wiseman was the male student-athlete of the year and Big Ten Medal of Honor recipient. He’s a senior hurdler on the track team majoring in electrical engineering.

“Tierra Williams is one of the most compelling success stories in Nebraska Athletics’ history,” stated an article on huskers.com. It describes her family’s relocation from Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans to Auburn, NE where she experienced a total culture change. Through the help of dedicated teachers in Auburn’s public schools, she overcame her inability to read or write at age 12 to become a dedicated and high performing student in CYAF.

December CYAF graduate Justine Wong-Orantes, a two-time all-America libero for the Husker volleyball team, captured the Best Female Athlete Award. She is currently in graduate school. Another two-time all-America, Nick Percy, won the Best Male Athlete Award. He is a junior discus and hammer thrower from Ventnor, England majoring in Health Science in the Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences (NHS).

Other CEHS student-athletes who were recognized at the awards ceremony were:

Sam Foltz Hero 27 Leadership Awards

Kristen Dowell, junior, Hospitality, Restaurant and Tourism Management, NHS

Tanner Farmer, junior, Health Science, NHS

Taylor Kadavy, junior, Nutrition Science, NHS

Megan Kuo, redshirt freshman, Pre-Secondary Mathematics, TLTE

Aris Shino, sophomore, Nutrition Science, NHS

Katt Sickle, graduate student, TLTE

Bonnie Smith, junior, Elementary Education, TLTE

Congratulations to all of these outstanding CEHS student-athletes.