Charles Woodson and Sara Griffin capped off stellar seasons when they were voted the Big Ten Athletes of the Year by a media panel. In the process, Woodson and Griffin gave Michigan a clean sweep of the award, the school's first ever.
Woodson, a wide receiver/cornerback/punt returner on the Michigan football team, led the Wolverines to their first national championship in 50 years.
| Woodson |
He was named the Heisman Trophy winner in December, becoming the first primarily defensive player to win the award.
Playing on both offense and defense, Woodson was involved in 844 plays. On defense, he had 44 tackles, 9 pass break-ups and 8 interceptions. On offense, Woodson had 12 catches for 238 yards and two touchdowns. He also had five carries for 21 yards. He returned 36 punts for 301 yards, including a key 78-yard touchdown run in Michigan's victory over Ohio State.
Woodson was taken with the fourth pick in the 1998 NFL draft by the Oakland Raiders.
| Griffin |
Griffin led the Michigan softball team to a fifth-place finish at the 1998 Women's College World Series in May as the team's pitching ace.
Griffin, who bats as the designated hitter when not pitching, led the Big Ten in wins (17), ERA (1.09) and strikeouts (88). Her overall record of 35-3 gave her 106 career victories, just the 15th player in NCAA Division I history to break the 100 mark.
At the plate, Griffin batted .346 in 185 at-bats and drove in 52 runs.
Griffin and Woodson are the seventh and eighth Michigan athletes selected for the Big Ten Conference award, joining Jim Abbott (1988), Glen Rice (1989), Mike Barrowman (1991), Desmond Howard (1992), Lara Hooiveld (1993) and Tom Dolan (1995).
07-06-98
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