Courtesy of the Big 12 Conference
(big12sports.com) – The 2022-23 Big 12 Athlete of the Year nominees will be featured each day at 10 a.m. CT and 2 p.m. CT, listed in alphabetical order by school through Friday, July 28.
Each institution nominated one male and one female athlete of any classification that competed for their institution during the school year. Student-athletes were required to be in good academic standing and had to be from a league-sponsored sport.
The 10 schools that competed during the 2022-23 academic year are eligible.
The winners will be announced Monday, July 31. Stay tuned to Big12Sports.com and the league’s social media platforms to see the rest of the candidates.
This afternoon’s featured candidates are Kansas State’s Deuce Vaughn and Emma Robbins.
Kansas State Male Athlete of the Year Candidate
Deuce Vaughn, Football, Running Back
Jr., Round Rock, Texas
Accomplishments
- Named a Consensus All-American for a second-straight season, just the second player in school history to pick up the honor twice in a career.
- One of four finalists for the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award in addition to being a semifinalist for the Doak Walker Award.
- Most Valuable Player of the 2022 Dr Pepper Big 12 Football Championship where he rushed for 130 yards, including a 44-yard touchdown run and helped guide K-State to their third league title and first since 2012.
- Second Team Academic All-Big 12 performer.
- Participated in Adopt A Family, Red Carper Readers Literacy Night, Special Olympics Kansas and Jr Wildcats.
Kansas State Female Athlete of the Year Candidate
Emma Robbins, Track and Field, Hammer Throw/Weight Throw
Jr., Anaheim, Calif.
Accomplishments
- Earned her first NCAA First Team All-American distinction at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships. She broke the K-State school record with a fourth-place hammer throw (229-3, 69.89m) at the NCAA Championships.
- Was a runner-up in hammer throw (220-1, 67.09m) at the 2023 Big 12 Outdoor Championship.
- Won the hammer throw (212-6, 64.76m) at the Rock Chalk Classic.
- Third place in weight throw (66-7, 20.31m) at the Indoor Big 12 Championship.
- 2023 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District VII.
