All-Time Eddleman Athletes of the Year | Male Finalists | Follow @IlliniAthletics

Meet the five finalists for the 2017 University of Illinois Dike Eddleman Female Athlete of the Year Award. The group was honored at the annual OSKEE Awards April 24 at State Farm Center. The winner will be voted on by Fighting Illini head coaches and a DIA awards committee and announced on Thursday, June 15, along with this year's male athlete of the year. 

The Illinois Athlete of the Year Award is given annually by the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics (DIA) to the female and male student-athletes who have distinguished themselves in athletic achievement. In 1993, the award was named after Dwight "Dike" Eddleman, who is generally considered the greatest athlete in the history of Illinois athletics. Eddleman participated in basketball, football and track & field in 1943 and 1946-49, earning a combined 11 varsity letters in his career.

The Illinois male and female Newcomer of the Year Award winners will be announced on Wednesday, June 14.

Dike Eddleman Female Athlete of the Year Finalists 

Sophomore Ali Bastianelli – Volleyball    
Senior Nicole Evans – Softball
Sophomore Lizzy LeDuc – Gymnastics
Junior Pedrya Seymour – Track
Sophomore Alex Wittinger – Basketball

Finalist Bios

ALI BASTIANELLI | Volleyball • AVCA and PrepVolleyball.com Honorable Mention All-American • All-Big Ten and AVCA All-Northeast Region selection • Led the nation in blocks per set (1.79) and total blocks (201) • Led the Illini with a .326 hitting percentage • Set a school record with 14 block assists against Stanford (Sept. 3) • Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week (Nov. 21) and FloVolleyball National Player of the Week (Sept. 27)

NICOLE EVANS | Softball • 2017 Arthur Ashe Jr. National Female Sports Scholar of the Year • NFCA Third-Team All-American • Big Ten Medal of Honor recipient • First-Team All-Big Ten, Big Ten All-Defensive Team, and NFCA First-Team All-District • Led the Fighting Illini to an NCAA Regional Final appearance • Led the Illini and ranked among Big Ten leaders in seven offensive categories on the season: batting average (.349), slugging percentage (.775), on-base percentage (.471), RBIs (58), home runs (18), total bases (131) and walks (33).

LIZZY LEDUC | Gymnastics • 2017 Big Ten Balance Beam Champion • First-Team All-Big Ten selection • Big Ten All-Championships selection helped lead Illinois to a second-place team finish • Led the Illini with 19 event titles, tied for the sixth-most in a single-season program history • Hit Illinois' top scores in four events on the season: all-around, vault, beam and floor • Tied the school record on beam with a score of 9.950 against Minnesota (Feb. 4)

PEDRYA SEYMOUR | Track • Advanced to the 2016 Olympic Final last August, placing sixth in the 100-meter hurdles while setting the Bahamian record with a time of 12.64 seconds • Earned All-America honors at the NCAA Indoor Championships, finishing third in the 60-meter hurdles • Set a PR with a 7.97 in the NCAA Final, the second-fastest 60m hurdles time in school history • Finished second in the 60m hurdles at the Big Ten Indoor Championships • Broke the Eastern Illinois O'Brien Field facility record in the 100-meter hurdles, winning the event with a time of 13.06 seconds

ALEX WITTINGER | Basketball • All-Big Ten Honorable Mention selection • Led Illinois in scoring and rebounding, averaging 14.4 points and 8.7 rebounds per game • Led the Big Ten and ranked 20th in the NCAA in blocked shots, averaging 2.6 bpg • Set an Illini school record with eight blocked shots against Wright State (Dec. 11) • Total of 74 blocks ranks second on the Illini all-time single-season list