Fliegner, Juda Named Michigan's Big Ten Medal of Honor Recipients
4/22/2025 8:22:00 PM | General, Men's Gymnastics, Women's Tennis
• U-M's Big Ten Medal of Honor Recipients
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan Athletic Department announced Tuesday (April 22) that senior Julia Fliegner (women's tennis) and graduate student Paul Juda (men's gymnastics) were named its 2025 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. Over 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.
Julia Fliegner, Women's Tennis
Fliegner is the department's female honoree. She is the third women's tennis player to earn the honor and the first since Stacy Berg in 1991.
Fliegner is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree and Big Ten Distinguished Scholar. She earned CSC Academic All-District honors last year and will graduate this May with a business administration degree from the Ross School of Business. She has been accepted in the Michigan Law School.
On the court, Fliegner became the second Wolverine in program history to reach the semifinals of the NCAA Singles Championship this past fall. She earned All-America honors for the first time in her career as a result. Fliegner has been ranked as high as No. 2 in singles this season, the highest a Wolverine has ever been ranked. She currently comes in at No. 3 and has a 28-5 overall record. She is 12-1 in dual matches, going 11-1 at the top of the lineup.
Fliegner has 108 singles victories during her time in the maize and blue, ranking eighth all-time at Michigan. She has earned All-Big Ten honors twice in her career and to the All-Big Ten Tournament Team three times, including MVP honors in 2024. She has participated in the NCAA Singles Championship three times, making a run to the semifinals in the fall.
Away from the court, she is the president of Leaders in Law, a community that provides students interested in legal careers a support system during a stressful time. She is involved with Women in Business at Ross, collaborating with female business leaders who serve as role models for aspiring professionals. Fliegner also works with Acing Autism, where she volunteers as a tennis instructor for children on the autism spectrum.
Paul Juda, Men's Gymnastics
Juda is the department's male honoree, the fourth men's gymnast to earn the honor and the first since Phillip Goldberg in 2010.
Juda is a five-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree and Scholar of Distinction and a two-time Academic All-American. The graduate student is one of just two men's gymnasts to earn a first-team nod (2024) and the first men's gymnast to earn multiple career Academic All-America citations. Juda will graduate in May having completed an undergraduate degree in psychology with a certificate in sales and marketing, a graduate degree in real estate development, and a Master of Accounting with a certification in data analytics.
In the gym, Juda is a four-time individual national champion and has received 15 All-America citations. In addition to winning the parallel bars title at the 2025 NCAA Championships with a season-high score of 14.200, Juda's vault score of 13.966 clinched the team's 2025 NCAA Championship win. The title is the seventh overall and first for the program since 2014. The Deerfield, Ill., native has helped lead the men's gymnastics program to five straight Big Ten Championships and is the 2022 Big Ten high bar champion. Juda earned the Nissen-Emery Award, which recognizes the nation's top gymnast, in 2023 as just the third Wolverine to receive the honor. He is a two-time Big Ten Gymnast of the Year, the 2022 Big Ten Gymnast of the Championships, and the 2020 Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
A U.S. Senior National Team member, Juda competed at the 2024 Paris Olympics and helped lead Team USA to a third-place finish in the team competition for its first Olympic medal since 2008. He also competed in the all-around finals, finishing 14th. Prior to the Olympics, Juda took sixth in the all-around at the 2024 U.S. Championships. Juda won bronze with Team USA at the 2023 World Championships, helping the team take home its first medal since 2014 and fourth-ever in USA Gymnastics history.
Outside of the gym, Juda has volunteered at the Cass Community Services Kitchen in Detroit and assists with administering services at St. Mary's Student Parish. Along with teammate Pierce Wolfgang, Juda co-founded the Michigan Athletes in Real Estate Careers (MARC) Club.
