OSU’s Katie Trace Named Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship Award Winners

Courtesy: Ohio State Athletics

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State student-athletes Kyle Seelig (men’s tennis) and Katie Trace (women’s swimming) have been named Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship Award winners for the 2020-21 season.

One member of each varsity sports team on all 14 Big Ten campuses was chosen by his or her institution as a Sportsmanship Award honoree, and two Outstanding Sportsmanship Award winners were then selected from each institution. All of the Sportsmanship Award winners have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, these honorees must be in good academic standing and must have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.

Seelig played an instrumental role in the men’s tennis team’s continued dominance of the Big Ten. The Buckeyes won the Big Ten East Division title and made a run to the finals of the Big Ten Tournament. In the NCAA Tournament, OSU found itself on the road for the first time since 2005, playing at No. 10 Wake Forest. In the second-round match vs. the Demon Deacons, Seelig provided the clinching point with a straight-set victory. He finished the season 19-9 in singles play with three wins over ranked opponents and was also 6-6 in doubles matches.

For his career, Seelig was a three-time first team All-Big Ten honoree and finished 127 singles victories and 46 doubles wins. Off the court, he graduated last May with a degree in child and youth studies along with a minor in human development and family science. This year, he completed his graduate certificate in public management and through all of that, he was a three-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and a five-time OSU Scholar-Athlete.

Trace was a senior member of the 2020-21 Ohio State swimming and diving team that won its second consecutive Big Ten Conference championship in 2021 and then swam to its highest finish ever at the NCAA championships, seventh place as a team. Trace swam on the Big Ten champion 400 medley relay team that set a school record and she was the Big Ten runner-up in the 400 individual medley. She also made the finals in the 200 individual medley and the 200 butterfly. She qualified for the NCAA championships in in all three of those individual events. At NCAAs, she earned first-team All-America honors in the 400 individual medley and as part of the 800 free relay team.

Trace is from Upper Arlington, Ohio, and Upper Arlington High School. She has graduated with her degree in kinesiology and is currently working on an internship with the Ohio High School Athletic Association.