OU’s Hurts, Nichols sweep Big 12 honors

For the third time in the past five years, Oklahoma has swept the Big 12's awards for top male and female athletes.

Jalen Hurts and Maggie Nichols are the latest Sooners to earn that honor, the league announced Thursday.

Hurts is the third consecutive OU quarterback to win the award after a season in which he led the Sooners to a 12-2 record, a College Football Playoff appearance and a Big 12 title. Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray won the award in 2017-18 and 2018-19, respectively.

Hurts finished the season with 5,149 yards and 52 touchdowns. He finished second in Heisman Trophy voting, led the nation in yards per pass attempt with 11.3, and ranked third in total offense with 367.8 yards per game.

Along with Hurts, Mayfield and Murray, four other Sooners have one Big 12 Male Athlete of the Year. Past winners include quarterbacks Josh Heupel in 2000-01, Jason White in 2003-04 Sam Bradford in 2008-09 and basketball guard Buddy Hield in 2015-16.

Nichols won the award after a 2020 season in which she ranked No. 1 nationally on the all-around and vault, and second on bars. The Sooners finished the season with a 16-0 record before the NCAA canceled the remainder of the season in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In her career, Nichols notched 22 perfect 10s, which ranks fourth in NCAA history. Oklahoma won national championships in 2017 and 2019 with Nichols on the roster.

Nichols is the fifth Sooner to win the Big 12 Female Athlete of the Year, with basketball guard Stacey Dales winning in 2001-02, softball pitcher Keilanni Rickets in 2012-13, softball first baseman Lauren Chamberlain in 2013-14 and softball pitcher Paige Parker in 2015-16.

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