LAS VEGAS – Michigan State men’s tennis fifth-year senior Jack Winkler was one of five recipients presented with the 2022 Wilma Rudolph Student-Athlete Achievement Award at the National Association of Academic and Student-Athlete Development Professionals (N4A) Convention on Monday in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Resort.
The N4A awards ceremony took place at the Jim Pignataro Awards Luncheon. In remembrance of the 2014-15 N4A President, Jim Pignataro, the National Association of Academic and Student-Athlete Development Professionals (N4A) renamed the N4A Awards Luncheon as the “Jim Pignataro Awards Luncheon” in March. Pignataro, who worked as the executive senior associate athletics director for student-athlete services at Michigan State University for 25 years, passed away after a six-year battle with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in August 2021. He was a transformational leader who displayed great zeal to celebrate others daily.
The N4A Wilma Rudolph Student-Athlete Achievement Award honors student-athletes who have overcome great personal, academic, and/or emotional odds to achieve academic success while participating in intercollegiate athletics. These individuals have persevered and made significant personal strides toward success.
“The Wilma Rudolph Award continues to be one of our association’s flagship awards because it celebrates how student-athletes have embraced, persevered, and overcome adverse situations within their personal and professional journeys,” said N4A President Ashton Henderson, executive associate athletics director for championship resources at Michigan State. “These young people provide the bandwidth and runway for us to thrive, and we are grateful to be back in person to celebrate the meritorious achievements of these five amazing recipients.”
Along with Winkler, the 2022 Wilma Rudolph recipients are Austin Blake, Campbell University; Riley Clark, University of Maine; Mary Griffin, Virginia Tech; and Taylor Robertson, University of Dayton.
Earlier this month, Winkler was named the winner of the ITA National Most Improved Senior following his incredible senior comeback campaign in 2021-22, becoming the first Spartan to win an ITA national award.
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