Blankenburg, Weissman Named Michigan's Big Ten Medal of Honor Recipients
7/6/2022 1:00:00 PM | General, Ice Hockey, Women's Lacrosse
• Michigan Medal of Honor Recipients
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan Athletic Department announced Wednesday (July 6) that senior Nick Blankenburg (ice hockey) and graduate student Arielle Weissman (women's lacrosse) were named its 2022 Big Ten Medal of Honor recipients.
The Big Ten Medal of Honor is awarded to one male and one female student from the graduating class of each member institution who has demonstrated excellence on and off the field throughout their college career. The highest honor that a student competing in conference athletics can achieve in the Big Ten, the award was established in 1915 and was the first award in intercollegiate athletics to demonstrate support for the educational emphasis placed on athletics. During the past century, the Big Ten Medal of Honor has been awarded to more than 1,300 honorees. These individuals have translated their campus experience into success in all walks of life.
Blankenburg is the department's male recipient, the fourth from the ice hockey program and first since Carl Hagelin in 2011. Other recipients include Jason Botterill in 1997 and Gordon Wilke in 1964.
During his four-year Michigan career, Blankenburg played in 133 games and scored 25 goals and 44 assists for 69 points. He finished a +52 with 10 power-play goals and three game-winning goals. A three-time honorable mention All-Big Ten selection, Blankeburg also was a three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection. A native of Washington, Mich., Blankenburg was a finalist for the 2022 Senior CLASS Award.
Team captain his senior year, Blankenburg led the Wolverines to the NCAA Frozen Four and the Big Ten Tournament championship. He had a career season offensively with 14 goals and 15 assists for 29 points and was named all-conference honorable mention. Blankenburg's 14 goals tied the Michigan program record for goals in a single season by a senior defenseman. Along with freshman Luke Hughes, the pair became the first two defensemen to reach double digits in goals since the 2005-06 season. Additionally, Blankenburg was second on the team in blocked shots with 47 and was a +17.
He signed a one-year entry-level contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets on April 8. He quickly became a fan favorite and played on the team's second power-play unit. In seven games, he had one goal -- the game-winner over Edmonton -- and two assists. Unable to walk at Michigan's graduation he was celebrated by his Blue Jackets teammates in the locker room after earning his degree in international studies on April 30. Weeks after the Blue Jackets' season was completed, Blankeburg was named to the USA Hockey roster for the 2022 IIHF World Championships. He played four games before sustaining an injury.
He captained a team with seven underclassmen selected in the first round of the NHL Draft and was relied on by his teammates for leadership and guidance. He was instrumental as an alternate captain in 2020-21 when the season ended the day the team was scheduled to play in the NCAA Regional semifinal. His positive energy, encouragement and thoughtfulness were unmatched during the difficult time and earned him the utmost respect amongst his teammates.
Blankenburg has been heavily involved in the Ann Arbor community since arriving at Michigan. He created a GoFundMe account to raise money for COVID-19 relief for the Ronald McDonald House of Ann Arbor; took the lead in the team's effort with Team IMPACT as they adopted 16-year-old Kellen, who lives with cerebral palsy; and he volunteers at Grace Bible Church and at Motts Children's Hospital.
Weissman is the department's female recipient and the first-ever women's lacrosse honoree. The Bridgewater, N.J., native also became the first U-M women's lacrosse player to earn IWLCA All-America honors, being named to the third team following the 2022 campaign.
A 2022 Tewaaraton Award nominee, Weissman adds the honor to her long list of accolades this season -- she also was named Inside Lacrosse All-America second team, USA Lacrosse Magazine All-America honorable mention, IWLCA West/Midwest All-Region first team and second team All-Big Ten.
Weissman started all 18 games in the cage, playing 972 minutes, 13 seconds while making 149 saves. She ranked sixth nationally in 2022 with a .505 save percentage and seventh with a 9.01 goals-against average. She recorded six games with double-digit saves and ranks second all-time in Michigan single-game history after stopping 17 shots against No. 16 Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Weissman ended her career ranking second all-time in Michigan women's lacrosse history with a .454 save percentage and 18 wins, while ranking third all-time in career saves with 260.
In the fall of 2019, Weissman -- with the help of the Michigan Academic Career Center -- initiated "The 4 Year Game Plan," which is aimed at setting up students for optimal success upon graduation, regardless of major, and teaching student-athletes how to utilize their experiences as elite athletes to gain an edge in the work force. Weissman also was selected as part of the inaugural class of Leadership Development Team Ambassadors, a student-athlete led organization that best utilizes the leaders of each team to cohesively achieve goals as part of the athletic community and grow internally. Weissman was part of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee and played a large part of Michigan women's lacrosse's five-year partnership with Team IMPACT.
In addition to her work within the University of Michigan community, Weissman became the first registered and verified student-athlete volunteer at the Veterans Affair Hospital in Ann Arbor, was part of a pen pal exchange program and helped raise money for St. Jude's Children's Hospital.
The Big Ten Medal of Honor is acclaimed throughout the nation, and in particular by the NCAA "as one of the significant gestures yet made in college sports." The Big Ten Medal of Honor was expanded in 1982 to include one female student-athlete from each institution.
