The Big Ten Conference named Northwestern cross country/track standout Skye Ellis and senior outfielder Jack Lausch as the Wildcats' Outstanding Sportsmanship Award recipients for the 2025-26 academic year, the conference announced Thursday, July 9.
The honor recognizes student-athletes who have distinguished themselves through ethical behavior, good academic standing, and citizenship beyond the playing field. Each Big Ten institution selects one honoree per varsity sport, then narrows the pool to two Outstanding Sportsmanship Award winners per school. Lausch was chosen to represent all Northwestern male student-athletes; Ellis represents the women's side.
Ellis: Record-breaker from Australia
Ellis, a redshirt junior from Jan Juc, Australia, put together a breakout year across cross country and track. During the fall, she scored in four of six cross country appearances and earned USTFCCCA All-Region honors after finishing 16th at the NCAA Midwest Regional. She led the Wildcats at the NCAA Championships with a personal-best 6K time of 19:50.9.
Indoors, Ellis shattered her own program record in the 800m run with a 2:07.23 clocking, then placed fourth in both the mile and distance medley relay at the Big Ten Indoor Championships. She broke her own 1,500m program record twice during the outdoor season, finished seventh in the event at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, and qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary.
Lausch: All-Big Ten senior with a record-setting bat
According to Northwestern Athletics, Lausch led the Wildcats in batting average (.312), on-base percentage (.393), slugging percentage (.653), runs (52), hits (63), triples (4), home runs (16), RBI (41), and total bases (132). His 16 homers and 132 total bases both rank second in Northwestern program history. He is the first Wildcat to lead the team in both batting average and home runs since Shawn Goosenberg in 2021.
Lausch earned All-Big Ten honors this season.
Beyond the stat line, his teammates voted him the 2026 Paul Stevens Life Teammate Award winner, given annually to the Northwestern baseball senior who best embodies leadership on the field, in the locker room, and in the community. As that award's recipient, Lausch wore jersey No. 13 this season, commemorating the life of Will Trautwein, son of former Northwestern player John Trautwein and brother of former Wildcat Michael Trautwein.
The 2026 MLB Draft runs Friday, July 11, through Saturday, July 12, in Philadelphia. Lausch is eligible after completing his senior season.
