All-Americans Gordon, Willer Receive Huskers' Top Student-Athlete Awards

A four-time All-America long jumper and a two-time All-America pole vaulter received Nebraska's top awards here Sunday night at the 21st annual Nebraska Student-Athlete Recognition Banquet that drew 650 to the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

Nicholas Gordon, a senior political science major from Kingston, Jamaica, was named the 2011 Nebraska Male Student-Athlete of the Year.

Natalie Willer, a senior biological sciences major from Elkhorn, Neb., was named the 2011 Nebraska Female Student-Athlete of the Year.

The two honorees also are both Academic All-Americans and served as captains for Coach Gary Pepin's track and field teams.

Gordon, the 2009 NCAA Indoor Long Jump champion, was named a First-Team CoSIDA Academic All-American in 2011. Gordon, who also has a third-place NCAA finish in his specialty, has won two Big 12 Conference long jump titles and twice was named First-Team Academic All-Big 12.

Willer, a three-time Big 12 Conference champion in the pole vault, holds the school record in that event both indoors and outdoors. A Third-Team CoSIDA Academic All-American, she finished third in the 2011 NCAA Indoor Championships and sixth in the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Championships.

A USA junior champion and record-holder; and a Pan Am junior champion and record-holder, Willer was the 2010 recipient of the Dr. Barbara Hibner Memorial Scholarship. The award is presented to a Nebraska varsity women's student-athlete who has demonstrated a high level of athletic and academic achievement, community involvement, integrity and a passion for promoting women's athletics at Nebraska.

In addition, four Nebraska varsity sports programs were honored at the recognition banquet. Winners of the Life Skills Awards of Excellence were the Nebraska football team and the Husker women's softball team.

The Nebraska women's tennis team (3.541) and the Husker men's golf team (3.422) were recognized as the winners of the Herman Awards for having the athletic department's highest team grade-point averages.

Nebraska Athletics is a national leader in academics and service. Nearly 4,300 student-athletes have been honored at the Student-Athletic Recognition Banquet, including a nation-leading 279 Academic All-Americans and a national-leading 16 NCAA Top Eight Award recipients.

In 2010-11, Nebraska teams have volunteered for more than 70 team service projects that have impacted thousands across the state.

In the last calendar academic year, 686 Huskers have been named to the conference academic honor roll. In addition: 85 Huskers have recorded perfect 4.0 semesters either this past fall or last spring; 17 Huskers currently maintain 4.0 cumulative grade-point averages; and 358 Huskers earned a 3.0 GP or higher in the fall 2010 term.