Leonhard, MacLeod receive Medals of Honor
Last week the Big Ten announced the recipients of the Medal of Honor, given annually to one female and one male student-athlete in the graduating class at each Big Ten university that demonstrated excellence in academics and athletics.
This year the University of Wisconsin’s representatives are Carla MacLeod, a defender on the women’s hockey team, and Jim Leonhard, a safety and punt return on the football team.
MacLeod, a native of Calgary, Alberta, is a two-time second-team All-America selection who ranked ninth among the nation’s defenders in points per game this past season. She was selected as the U.S. College Hockey Online National Defensive Player of the Year.
The two-time team captain most recently helped Team Canada earn a silver medal at the World Championship. MacLeod also has been named a community All-American for her involvement with the Ronald McDonald House and the UW Children’s Hospital. MacLeod graduated with a 3.05 grade point average in legal studies.
Leonhard, who played in every game during his four-year career at UW, is the Big Ten career leader in punt return yardage with 1,347. He is tied with former Badger Jamar Fletcher for most all-time interceptions at UW with 21, which also ranks fourth-most in Big Ten history.
Leonhard, a two-time team captain, also was a finalist for the inaugural Ronnie Lott Trophy, a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe award and the winner of UW’s Ivan B. Williamson Scholar-Athlete award. He was also named first-team ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America as selected by College Sports Information Directors of America, and has been an Academic All-Big Ten selection for three straight years. Leonhard graduated with a 3.427 GPA in exercise science.
Gillette, Ebinger receive sportsmanship awards
The Big Ten also announced the recipients of the conference’s Outstanding Sportsmanship Awards last week. Throughout the 2004-05 academic year, each league school chose an athlete on each of its varsity teams as a Sportsmanship Award honoree. From that pool, the conference selected one male and one female representative from each institution.
For UW, this year’s overall awards went to Joe Ebinger, a sophomore on the men’s swimming and diving team, and Boo Gillette, a senior catcher on the softball team.
Football tickets sold out
As first reported in the Wisconsin State Journal, the UW has sold out all of its tickets for the upcoming Badger football season. The school has not only sold out all season tickets, but those season ticket holders have also purchased all available single-game tickets. All that remains is the allocation of student season tickets, which are also expected to be sold out.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Wednesday that there is one hope for Badgers fans looking to find a seat at Camp Randall this season: if a visiting team does not sell all of its 2,000-seat allotment those tickets could be released to the public.