Hillmon, Owens Named Michigan Athletes of the Year
6/23/2021 11:00:00 AM | General, Men's Track & Field, Women's Basketball
• MGoBlue Awards | University of Michigan Athletes of the Year
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan Athletics Department announced Wednesday (June 23) that junior Naz Hillmon (women's basketball) and junior Ayden Owens (men's track and field) have been named the 2020-21 U-M Athletes of the Year.
Hillmon is the second women's basketball player to earn the award, joining U-M's all-time leading scorer Katelynn Flaherty (2018). Owens is the fifth men's track and field athlete to win the honor, marking the third time in the last six years a track athlete has won. He is the first field athlete in school history to win it.
Both student-athletes are eligible to be named Big Ten Conference Athletes of the Year, the winners of which are determined by a media vote. The University of Michigan Athlete of the Year Award was first presented in 1982.
The following are biographical sketches on Hillmon and Owens.
Naz Hillmon (Women's Basketball)
Hillmon became the first All-American in Michigan women's basketball history, highlighted by her selection to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-America team. Hillmon also was named to All-America teams by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (first team), the Associated Press (second team), Sports Illustrated (first team) and The Athletic (first team). She was one of four finalists for the Wade Trophy and one of five finalists for the Katrina McClain Award, given to the nation's top power forward.
Hillmon led the Wolverines to their first Sweet 16 appearance in program history after wins over Florida Gulf Coast and Tennessee. U-M also finished with program-record rankings in both final polls, coming in at No. 16 in the AP poll and No. 11 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
In her junior season, Hillmon started all 22 games and averaged 23.9 points and 11.4 rebounds in 33.8 minutes per contest while shooting 62.3 percent from the field. She racked up 15 double-doubles on the season, ranking 11th nationally, while ranking among the nation's best in field-goal percentage (second), scoring average (seventh) and rebounding average (15th). She scored in double figures in all but one game, with three 30-point games and 15 20-point games.
She was named the Big Ten Player of the Year by both the coaches and media, marking the first time a Wolverine has won the honor in program history. She was a unanimous All-Big Ten selection by both panels and was named the Big Ten Player of the Week three times (Nov. 30, Jan. 11, Jan. 25), the ESPNW Player of the Week twice (Jan. 11, Jan. 25) and USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale Player of the Week (Jan. 12) during the season. She also represents U-M in the Big Ten Equality Coalition.
Hillmon recorded the first 50-point game in Michigan history -- man or woman -- when she went for 50 points and 16 rebounds at Ohio State (Jan. 21). She broke the previous program record for points in a game (45), held by Diane Dietz (Feb. 27, 1982). Hillmon also outscored men's basketball greats Cazzie Russell and Rudy Tomjanovich, breaking the U-M basketball scoring record of 48 points and recording the first 50-point game in Michigan basketball history. Hillmon's 20 made field goals set a Michigan program record and the most ever by a Big Ten player in a conference game. According to ESPN Stats and Info, Hillmon became the second Division I player over the last 20 seasons with 50 points and 15 rebounds in a game.
She recently won a gold medal at the AmeriCup, capturing her third medal with USA Basketball and her first for a senior-level team. A starter for Team USA for the entire tournament, Hillmon tallied one double-double and averaged 11.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 21.5 minutes per game.
Ayden Owens (Men's Track and Field)
Owens put together one of the best seasons by a decathlete in conference and school history in what was his debut season for the Wolverines. Owens, the Big Ten champion and national runner-up in the decathlon, was named the Big Ten Field Athlete of the Year, becoming just the second Wolverine man to earn the honor in outdoor program history.
Between the indoor and outdoor seasons, Owens earned All-America first team honors in both seasons and the USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region Field Athlete of the Year award.
A Spanish major from Wexford, Pa., Owens was the highest-finishing Big Ten field athlete at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, with his second-place effort. He lived up to his pre-meet No. 2 seed with an 8,114-point performance for the third-best decathlon of his career. His runner-up effort was the best national outdoor field event finish for Michigan in more than a decade, and its best-ever in the decathlon.
Only a sophomore eligibility-wise, his score also was the sixth-best in meet history recorded by either a freshman or sophomore.
Perhaps the crowning achievement of his 2021 campaign was his school-record and Big Ten Championships-record 8,238-point victory at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships in May, which vaulted him to No. 2 in Big Ten history and No. 17 in collegiate history. His score ranks No. 10 in the world for the 2021 season, and it stands as the Puerto Rican national record.
During the indoor season, Owens set a school record with 5,995 points in the heptathlon at the NCAA Championships to finish third. His overall score tied him for No. 25 in collegiate history and established a new Puerto Rican national record.
Owens has aspirations to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics later this summer as a member of the Puerto Rico delegation. The qualifying window for the Games closes at the end of June.
Players Mentioned
