Fighting Illini Athletics Celebrated at The Oskees

CHAMPAIGN, ILL. – Illinois’ best and brightest student-athletes were honored at The Oskees Wednesday night at State Farm Center.

The Oskees is an annual all-sports celebration recognizing first-year letter jacket recipients, graduating student-athletes and all Fighting Illini who have excelled both athletically and academically. Wednesday marked the return of The Oskees as a fully attended banquet for the first time since 2019, following the cancelation in 2020 and smaller, modified events in 2021 and 2022 due to COVID-19.

All-Americans Adrien Dumont de Chassart of golf and Mia Takekawa of gymnastics took home the night’s highest honor, the prestigious Big Ten Medal of Honor. Established in 1915, the Big Ten Medal of Honor is awarded annually to one male and one female student-athlete from the graduating class of each member institution who has demonstrated excellence on and off the field throughout their college career. The conference’s most exclusive award was the first of its kind in intercollegiate athletics to recognize academic and athletic excellence.

Dumont de Chassart has built a resume that rivals the most accomplished in the Illinois program’s storied history, and now becomes the fifth Fighting Illini men’s golfer to be recognized with the Big Ten Medal of Honor, and the fourth under head coach Mike Small. The native of Villers la Ville, Belgium, made an immediate impact, securing two of his four-career victories as a freshman including the individual title at the 2019 Big Ten Championship. Dumont de Chassart is the reigning two-time Big Ten Golfer of the Year, and is again among the favorites to win the award in 2023. He is a semifinalist for the 2023 Ben Hogan Award, given annually to the nation’s top collegiate golfer, and has already earned two All-America nods from the Golf Coaches Association of America, and one from Golfweek. He represented the Illini at the Arnold Palmer Cup in 2021 and 2022, and last summer qualified as one of 15 amateurs to compete at the U.S. Open. Academically, Dumont de Chassart will earn a degree from the prestigious Gies College of Business in management, entrepreneurship with a minor in economics, and is a three-time GCAA All-America Scholar, an Academic All-Big Ten selection, and Big Ten Distinguished Scholar honoree.  

Takekawa etched her name into the women’s gymnastics record book after earning the first-ever perfect 10.0 on beam on Jan. 9, 2020 against Lindenwood and Temple. She…