Inside NU’s 2024-25 Northwestern Athletics Awards

Which players and teams shined for Northwestern Athletics this past school year?

To cap off the 2024-25 Northwestern athletics season, 10 of our writers came together to vote on some of the best players, performances and moments from the past year in the third annual rendition of Inside NU Awards.

Just like in years prior, writers listed their top five selections for each award, and selections with the most points are named winners. First-place selections get five points, second-place gets four points and so on. Therefore, the maximum amount of points a selection can earn is 50.

MVP: Madison Taylor (47 Points)

Taylor may not have won the Tewaaraton award, but she caps her season by winning Inside NU’s Most Valuable Player award. The nation’s leader in goals and points had a season for the history books, breaking the NCAA single-season goals record (105) and ranking second all-time in total points (158) for a season. She also accumulated a litany of individual awards, including the unanimous Big Ten Attacker of the Year and Tewaaraton Finalist honors. In a season where Taylor quite literally put Northwestern’s offense on her back to lead them to a national championship game, her performance embodies what it means to be an MVP.

Maddie Zimmer, the first Northwestern field hockey player to win NFHCA National Player of the Year and the 2024 Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player, finished second with 39 points, including three first-place votes. Big Ten men’s basketball points per game leader Nick Martinelli placed third (39), 2024 Big Ten Attacker of the Year and NCAA DI field hockey points per game leader Ashley Sessa was fourth (13) and 2024 Big Ten field hockey Goalie of the Year Annabel Skubisz placed fifth (10).

Best Team: Field Hockey (50 Points)

Northwestern field hockey was unanimously voted “Best Team,” and for good reason. The Wildcats had their best season in program history, which culminated in a 23-1 record and national championship — with the only blemish on their resume being a 1-0 loss to Michigan in the Big Ten tournament title game. In addition, they went undefeated in the regular season, becoming the first non-lacrosse team in Northwestern history to pull off this feat. Considering that three of the top five point earners for Inside NU MVP are field hockey players (Zimmer, Sessa and Skubisz), it’s no surprise to see their squad earning the team honor.

Women’s golf, the other Northwestern team to win a national championship this season, took nine of ten second-place votes and finished as the clear runner-up (38). Lacrosse took third (32) after sweeping the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles, while fencing was fourth after a 10th-place NCAA championships finish (18). Tied for fifth with six points each were men’s golf and softball, which both made NCAA tournament runs this season.

Best Single-Game Individual Performance: Madison Taylor 10 goals vs. Michigan (49 Points)

Taylor earns her second honor here with her 10-goal showing in the second round of the NCAA tournament, a performance that earned her nine of ten first-place votes. In a 15-7 Northwestern win over Michigan, the Northwestern attacker outscored the Wolverines by herself en route to breaking the single-game NCAA tournament record for the most goals in a single game. She also tied the Northwestern record for most goals scored in a single game, matching two of Izzy Scane’s 10-goal performances during her career in Evanston.

In second place was Lauryn Nguyen’s performance in match play of the NCAA women’s golf tournament (25), where she took down the individual national champion Maria José Marin in the quarterfinals against Arkansas. Northwestern lacrosse goalie Delaney Sweitzer took third for her 17 saves in the national championship game (19), a single-game program record. Zimmer’s two-goal, one-assist performance in the national title game was fourth (14), while Lauren Boyd’s pitching performance where she allowed just one hit in Northwestern’s first two games of the NCAA tournament took fifth (13).

Coach of the Year: Emily Fletcher, Northwestern Women’s Golf (49 points)

Coach Fletcher was one vote away from a unanimous Coach of the Year victory (take it up with Matt Campbell, who used his first place vote for Tracey Fuchs) for leading Northwestern women’s golf to the first national championship in program history. The 17th-year head coach dethroned No. 1 Stanford in a massive upset to bring a trophy to Evanston a day after back-to-back wins against No. 2 Oregon and No. 3 Arkansas in the semifinals and quarterfinals, respectively.

Coach Fuchs won a national championship of her own in the fall, but the Inside NU staff chose to reward Fletcher’s long climb to the mountain top over Fuchs’ second national title in five years (33). Northwestern lacrosse’s Kelly Amonte Hiller came in third (31), followed by baseball’s Ben Greenspan (20), who was a win away from clinching a Big Ten Tournament bid in his second season, and the inimitable Chris Collins in fifth (10). Fencing head coach Zach Moss nabbed the sixth place spot (2) with a vote from resident fencing expert Gabe Shumway and his fellow managing editor Calvin Kaplan.

Most Improved Team: Baseball (50)

In a runaway, consensus victory, the baseball team wins our staff’s vote for most improved this past season. Given the abysmal track of Northwestern baseball over the last two decades, hopes were not particularly high headed into the year. But head coach Ben Greenspan, leading the charge in the hopes of turning NU into an SEC-esque program, had the ‘Cats closer to the top of the Big Ten and shocking the college baseball world. Despite some stumbles along the way to just barely missing out on the Big Ten Tournament, the Wildcats looked their most competent in years.

And alongside a terrific group effort this season was an arguably better storyline between teammates Trent Liolios and Ryan Kucherak. The two infielders went back and forth all season, both eventually breaking the longstanding Northwestern single-season home run record of 16, dating back to 1988. Just two years removed from a horrendous 10-40 season that prompted Greenspan’s hire, the second-year coach already looks to be leading his ‘Cats back in the right direction. Slotting in behind baseball were women’s golf (39), whose championship was enough to put it in second (more on that later), as well as men’s swimming (26), wrestling (18) and fencing (10), all of whom helped boost NU’s reputation as an athletic program with a wide range of non-revenue sport success.

Most Improved Player: Nick Martinelli (50)

The Big Ten scoring title champion was Inside NU’s third unanimous pick as Most Improved Player. Martinelli was the fifth option at best in 2023-24 behind Boo Buie, Ryan Langborg, Ty Berry and Brooks Barnhizer, averaging 8.8 points per game in just 25.9 minutes. The lefty ironman played almost a full 12 minutes more per game for this year’s ‘Cats and willed a depleted Northwestern squad to the Big Ten tournament after losing both Barnhizer and Jalen Leach to season-ending injuries. Never a doubt for this one.

Junior third baseman Trent Liolios finished second (31) for his 16 homers in the record-breaking home run chase with shortstop Ryan Kucherak after hitting just 10 dingers in his first two seasons combined. Women’s golf hero Dianna Lee comes in at third (18) for winning the decisive fifth match against Stanford at her home course after watching from the bench as the ‘Cats played at her old stomping grounds one year ago. Sophomore point guard Casey Harter slides into fourth (13), followed by redshirt freshman wrestler Sam Cartella in fifth (10), who earned an NCAA Championships bid in his first full year of Big Ten action.

Best Win: Women’s Golf National Championship (50)

It was a battle of two national championships for this one, and the Cinderella story in Carlsbad prevailed over field hockey’s second natty in four years (39) to take the crown. That win was amazing for so many reasons. Dianna Lee’s putt on 18 to win after missing a close-out opportunity on 17 and her first putt on the 18th. The loaded Stanford roster with all five players ranked in the top 19 in the country. Lauren Nguyen’s birdie on 18 to close out her amateur career with a win over the No. 8 golfer in the country. Debating these two titles is comparing a supersized double chocolate chip ice cream sundae with a slightly bigger supersized double chocolate chip ice cream sundae, but in the end, it has to be women’s golf by a hair.

Lacrosse’s five-goal comeback over No. 2 Boston College in the NCAA tournament semifinal (31) wins in any non-championship year for NU athletics — and maybe any year without Northwestern’s Miracle on Grass. Softball’s series win over UCLA that ultimately secured a seventh straight NCAA Tournament comes in at four (21), followed by Northwestern men’s basketball’s third straight win over Illinois at Welsh-Ryan Arena (11).

Freshman of the Year: Kaylie Avvisato (44)

It might not have been quite the season many fans were expecting from Northwestern softball, but Kaylie Avvisato was a wonder to watch at shortstop all season long and has many giddy to see her for the next three years in purple and white. Avvisato looked like a veteran from the get-go, slotting to at short from early on and looking unfazed throughout, making highlight play after highlight play. Offensively, she was on par, if not better: the Virginia native hit .346 with three homers and 18 RBIs on her way to earning All-Big Ten Freshman honors.

Not far behind was Hsin Tai Lin (35), who was a huge contributor to one of NU’s two championship rosters in the women’s golf team, going 2-1 in match play at the NCAA Championships. Alongside her were KJ Windham (28), who carved out a rotational role for men’s basketball and could be one of the most exciting players in the conference (if not country) next year, lacrosse’s Mary Carroll (18), who started all 22 games amid NU’s championship game run and Elise Lee (12), who also performed admirably at the women’s golf NCAA Championships.

Favorite Play: Dianna Lee’s championship-winning putt (36)

Speaking of women’s golf, our writers picked Dianna Lee’s championship-winning putt over Stanford to secure an improbable Northwestern title as their favorite play of the entire year. Women’s golf may not have been at the spotlight of NU athletics for long, but the victory was a huge source of pride for Wildcat fans, alumni and students alike. Lee’s clutch putt is bound to go down as one of the most memorable moments in Northwestern sports history.

Narrowly missing out on the top spot of this category was Martinelli’s unforgettable game-winning corner fadeaway against Maryland (34), one of the hottest teams in the country at the time. Although men’s basketball didn’t see the success it was hoping for, that victory was still the season’s highlight. Further down the totem pole were Kansas Robinson’s absurd game-tying grand slam against Notre Dame (16) with two outs and two strikes in the bottom of the seventh to force a tie, Aditi Foster’s game-winning goal for lacrosse in the Big Ten Championship (12) and Sam Smith’s go-ahead goal against Boston College in the NCAA semifinals that sent NU to the championship in one of the craziest comebacks ever (12). The moral of the story? Inside NU loves a good game-winner.