Former Hawkeyes Mark Gronowski (football) and Taylor McCabe (women’s basketball) have been selected as Iowa’s 2026 Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship Award winners. The duo was chosen from Iowa’s list of 2025-26 Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winners, which had a representative from each varsity sport.
Gronowski quarterbacked Iowa’s offense in 2025, where the Naperville, Ill., native broke program records for most single-season rushing touchdowns by a quarterback (16) and rushing yards (545). He rushed for at least one score in 11 straight games, the longest streak ever by a Big Ten quarterback.
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Gronowski also became the first Hawkeye to rush, throw, and receive a touchdown in the same game (at USC). The 6-foot-2 signal-caller recorded 2,286 yards of total offense (1,741 passing, 545 rushing).
In 2025, he was a National Football Foundation Hampshire Honor Society inductee, a CSC Academic All-District selection, and a ReliaQuest Bowl Game Most Valuable Player. He also earned the Roy Carver Most Valuable Player and Hayden Fry team awards on offense, and was named a Permanent Team Captain.
McCabe was a three-time letterwinner and two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree for Iowa women’s basketball. The Fremont, Neb., native finished her career with 561 points, 183 rebounds, 113 assists, and 38 steals, and is tied for the best 3-point shooting percentage (.407) in school history. Additionally, her 172 career 3-pointers rank 10th all-time in program history.
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McCabe graduated from the University of Iowa in May with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and will begin her master’s degree in structural engineering at Notre Dame in the fall.
The Big Ten first awarded the Outstanding Sportsmanship honor in 2003. The student-athletes chosen were individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior, were in good academic standing, and demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Big Ten announces Iowa’s 2025-26 Outstanding Sportsmanship Award Winners
