Northwestern honors its top athletes

Northwestern wrestler Dustin Fox and lacrosse star Hannah Nielsen were honored by the N Club as Athletes of the Year for their outstanding seasons.

Fox capped off his career by winning the 2008 NCAA heavyweight title. He survived broken headgear, an open cut on his head and a broken nose en route to winning the championship match in double overtime. Fox finished his senior year with a 29-1 record and avenged his only loss of the season by a major decision at the Big Ten Championships. He was named one of seven finalists for the Dan Hodge Trophy-an award presented to the nation's most dominant wrestler.

With a career record of 109-29, Fox finished his time at NU in the top-10 of the school's all-time wins list.

Nielsen led the Wildcats to their fourth-straight NCAA championship this year, netting 3 goals and 3 assists in the NCAA championship game for a total of 12 tournament goals and 10 assists. She is the NCAA record holder with 69 assists in a single season, and ranked second in the nation with 114 points. A three-time All-American, she also was tabbed the American Lacrosse Conference (ALC) Player of the Year. In addition to being selected as MVP of this year's ALC championship, Nielsen won the Tewaaraton Trophy-the top collegiate honor for a lacrosse player-and was named the sport's Honda Award recipient. She has achieved back-to-back 100-point seasons and scored at least one point for 44 straight games. She holds the Northwestern school record as all-time assist leader (141) and is fourth in scoring with 246.