Fowler Named Female Student-Athlete of the Year

Lincoln -- Mattie Fowler was named Nebraska's 2015-16 Nebraska Female Student-Athlete of the Year on Sunday. The announcement was made at the Night at the Lied recognition banquet, which Fowler was unable to attend due to Nebraska's thrilling 11-9, 11-inning victory at Northwestern.

Fowler is a four-year starter in the infield for Head Coach Rhonda Revelle’s softball program. The Tucson, Ariz., native has been instrumental in the Huskers’ three straight postseason appearances, including a WCWS berth in 2013. Fowler is in her fourth season as captain for the program, as she was forced to redshirt after a knee injury in 2014. She is the only four-year captain in the program’s 41-year history. This year, she has set a career high in RBIs and is closing in on personal bests in hits and home runs. Off the field, she has been president of NU’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (2014-15), is a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree and a three-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar. Fowler was also one of four Heart & Soul Award winners in 2016, recognizing her outstanding effort in NU’s Life Skills program.

Fowler graduated with a degree in finance in May of 2015 and is currently pursuing her MBA. She becomes just the second Husker softball player to win the award since it began in 1991 and the first since Jenny Smith in 1998.

Fowler and men's basketball player Shavon Shields - the male student-athlete of the year - will be Nebraska’s Big Ten Medal of Honor recipients in 2016. The conference's most exclusive award was the first of its kind in intercollegiate athletics to recognize academic and athletic excellence. The Big Ten Medal of Honor was first awarded in 1915 to one student from the graduating class of each university who had "attained the greatest proficiency in athletics and scholastic work." Big Ten schools currently feature more than 9,500 students competing in intercollegiate athletics, but only 28 earn this prestigious award on an annual basis. In more than 100 years of the Big Ten Medal of Honor, almost 1,400 students have earned this distinction.

In addition to the big night for Fowler, classmate Alicia Armstrong was one of 35 student-athletes to earn a Nebraska Student-Athlete Hero Leadership Award. Senior All-American Kiki Stokes was also a finalist for Nebraska Female Athlete of the Year, an honor which went to volleyball All-American and national champion Kadie Rolfzen.