Ten exceptional former student-athletes will be recognized as the 2022 Today's Top 10 Award winners at the NCAA Convention next week.
The award recognizes former student-athletes for their successes on the field, in the classroom and in the community. The recipients — who completed their athletics eligibility during the 2020-21 academic year — will be recognized at the Honors Celebration on Jan. 19 during the NCAA Convention in Indianapolis. The awards ceremony will also be streamed via the NCAA Twitter account.
The NCAA Honors Committee, which selects the honorees, is composed of representatives from member schools and conferences, as well as nationally distinguished citizens, including past awardees.
Before 2013, the award recognized eight student-athletes and was known as Today's Top VIII. The NCAA Honors Committee expanded the award to include 10 honorees to recognize the growing number of college athletes, sports and championship opportunities.
The following former student-athletes are the 2022 Today's Top 10 awardees:
Anna Cockrell
School: University of Southern California
Sports: Indoor and outdoor track and field
Major: Communication
Five-time individual national champion Anna Cockrell became the second woman ever to win both the 100- and 400-meter hurdles at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships when the Trojans won the 2021 national title. She also was part of the 2018 national title-winning team. The 13-time U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association first-team All-American won the 2021 Honda Sports Award for track and field and was a semifinalist for the 2021 Bowerman Award. A 2020 Olympian, Cockrell also won the silver medal in the 400 hurdles at the 2019 Pan American Games. The two-time CoSIDA Academic All-America Women's Team Member of the Year for track and field was also the 2021 USTFCCCA Scholar Track Athlete of the Year and 2021 Pac-12 Scholar Athlete of the Year for track. A four-time team captain, Cockrell was co-founder and co-president of the United Black Student-Athletes Association, which hosted virtual town halls on racism and advocated for more equitable hiring and diverse representation. She also served on Southern California's Racial Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Task Force. Cockrell participated in several national panels on athlete activism and volunteered for two political campaigns. Cockrell also was a finalist for the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year award.
Watch Anna's video from the 2022 NCAA Convention here.
Kendall Cornick
School: Augustana University (South Dakota)
Sport: Softball
Major: Biology; psychology, with a concentration in neuroscience
Outfielder Kendall Cornick helped her team win the 2019 Division II Softball Championship. In 2021, she was named first-team All-American by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association and the Division II Conference Commissioners Association. A finalist for the 2021 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division II Player of the Year, she was the 2021 D2 CCA Central Region Player of the Year and 2021 conference Player of the Year. She had 34 steals in 2021, ranking second nationally, and set a school record for RBIs in a single game (7). The 2021 CoSIDA Division II Academic All-America Team Member of the Year for softball also earned second-team honors in 2020. She received the 2020-21 D2 CCA Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award and the Northern Sun Willis R. Kelly Scholar-Athlete Award in 2021. A 2021 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipient, she analyzed drug targets for medulloblastoma, a common form of childhood brain cancer, as a student research fellow. She also served as director of community outreach for Augustana's Kidney Disease Screening and Awareness Program, which provides free kidney health screenings. Cornick was a surgical services volunteer and pediatric companion at Sanford Hospital, as well as a surgical assistant at Avera McKennan Hospital. Cornick was named the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year.
Watch Kendall's video from the 2022 NCAA Convention here.
Stefani Deschner
School: University of Notre Dame
Sports: Fencing
Major: Pre-professional studies; theology
Stefani Deschner was the 2021 foil fencing national champion and led Notre Dame to team national titles in 2018 and 2021. The 2020 and 2021 U.S. Fencing Coaches Association first-team All-American also won an ACC individual title in 2020 and helped her team win conference titles in 2019 and 2020. Deschner has represented the United States in international competition, first competing on the Cadet World Fencing Championship team in 2014. She received second-team CoSIDA Academic All-America honors in 2021. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, Deschner earned an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship and ACC Postgraduate Scholarship, and she was twice named ACC Fencing Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She was named the Notre Dame Club of St. Joseph Valley Rockne Student-Athlete Award winner for her academic achievements. Deschner worked with Fighting Irish Fight for Life, an organization pairing varsity athletic teams with pediatric oncology/hematology patients. An executive board member and three-year representative on her campus Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Deschner supported development of mental health resources and organized mental health town halls. Deschner also served as a team coordinator with the Notre Dame Gender Relations Center to facilitate Green Dot certification for her team in bystander intervention and create a safe, inclusive campus environment. Deschner also was a finalist for the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year award.
Watch Stefani's video from the 2022 NCAA Convention here.
Lauren Huebner
School: Saginaw Valley State University
Major: Indoor and outdoor track and field
Sport: Rehabilitation medicine
Lauren Huebner won a national title in the 2019 NCAA Division II outdoor track and field heptathlon. A five-time U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association individual first-team All-American, she also contributed to an outdoor 4x400-meter relay title in 2021. She was runner-up in the outdoor 400-meter hurdles in 2021. Huebner earned CoSIDA first-team Academic All-America honors in 2019 and 2020 and U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic honors in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. She received the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Commissioner's Award in 2019, 2020 and 2021. She appeared on the Saginaw Valley State President's List five times for earning a 4.0 GPA in a semester. A team captain, Huebner also was treasurer of the Pi Theta Epsilon occupational therapy honor society and the community service chair on her campus Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. She volunteered with the Toni and Trish House serving terminally ill patients and at the Ascension Lutheran Church Back to School Fair to provide school supplies, clothing and food to families in need. Huebner also tutored at the writing center on campus.
Watch Lauren's video from the 2022 NCAA Convention here.
Mac Jones
School: University of Alabama
Sport: Football
Major: Communication studies
Mac Jones led Alabama to a perfect 13-0 season that was capped off by a victory in the 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship. In his final season with the Tide in 2020, he won the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and Manning Award. He was also a finalist for the 2020 Heisman Trophy and the 2020 Maxwell Award, each presented to the nation's top player in college football. Jones was named a consensus first-team All-American by the American Football Coaches Association, the Associated Press, Sporting News and Walter Camp Football Foundation in 2020, while setting an NCAA single-season record for completion percentage (77.4%) and leading all Division I players in passing yards (4,500). He finished the year leading the NCAA in passer rating (203.1) and total quarterback rating (96.1). Jones was also a member of the Crimson Tide's 2017 national title team and helped Alabama to two SEC championships. The summa cum laude graduate was named 2020 CoSIDA Academic All-America Football Team Member of the Year and the Southeastern Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year. A permanent team captain, Jones served on the SEC Football Leadership Council and his campus Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. He also volunteered with Lee County Tornado Relief, delivering supplies and assisting with cleanup after an F4 tornado.
Watch Mac's video from the 2022 NCAA Convention here.
Eka Jose
School: Washington University in St. Louis
Sport: Indoor and outdoor track and
Major: Anthropology, with a concentration in global health and the environment; biology
Eka Jose was a national champion in the indoor and outdoor triple jump in 2019 and earned U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Women's Division III Field Athlete of the Year for the 2019 indoor season. She was named Most Outstanding Field Performer at the 2019 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The five-time USTFCCCA All-American led WashU to second place at the 2019 indoor national championships and holds school records in the indoor and outdoor triple jump and the outdoor long jump. Jose earned first-team CoSIDA Academic All-America honors in 2019, 2020 and 2021. A two-time USTFCCCA Scholar Field Athlete of the Year, Jose was also presented the school's James E. McLeod Ralph Bunche Scholars Award for academic achievement twice. She earned a WashU biology summer undergraduate research fellowship in 2019. The two-year team captain was co-founder and co-president of the WashU Black Letterwinning Athletes Coalition. Jose worked with the Missouri Eating Disorders Association to educate and offer resources to over 100 middle and high school students. Jose also was a finalist for the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year award.
Watch Eka's video from the 2022 NCAA Convention here.
Jack Ming Jie Lin
School: Columbia University-Barnard College
Sport: Tennis
Major: Psychology
Jack Ming Jie Lin earned Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-America honors in singles in 2019 and doubles in 2020. He was a Northeast Regional Doubles Champion in 2017 and 2018. Lin contributed to two Ivy League team titles and was a four-time All-Ivy League selection, receiving first-team honors for doubles in 2018 and 2019 and for singles in 2019. He earned 2017-18 Northeast Rookie of the Year honors. Lin has played internationally on Canada's Davis Cup team and won a Junior Canadian National Championship, ranking as high as 47 in the ITF Juniors World Rankings and earning 10 Junior ITF Doubles titles. Lin was named an ITA Scholar-Athlete and ITA All-Academic team member in 2018, 2019 and 2020. He was also a three-time Academic All-Ivy League honoree. A team captain, he volunteered as a tennis coach helping prepare prospective student-athletes for intercollegiate competition. Lin also volunteered as a patient assistant at Markham Stouffville Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic and at the Broadway Community Four-Star Soup Kitchen.
Watch Jack's video from the 2022 NCAA Convention here.
Danny Logan
School: University of Denver
Sports: Lacrosse
Majors: Finance; international business
Short-stick defensive midfielder Danny Logan earned United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association first-team All-America honors in 2021, when he was nominated for the Tewaaraton Award. He earned first-team All-America honors from Inside Lacrosse in 2021 following third-team honors in 2020. He also was a first-team all-conference selection in 2019 and 2021. Logan ranks second in career games played (72), third in caused turnovers (50) and eighth in career ground balls (186) at Denver. He was named Denver Athletics Male Freshman of the Year in 2017. A 2020 USILA Scholar All-American, Logan was a four-time Big East Honor Roll recipient and Denver named him to the Hornbeck Scholars List for earning a 4.0 GPA in a quarter. The team captain volunteered with the Denver Rescue Mission to serve more than 300 meals a day to the homeless in Denver during the winter and participated in Unified Lacrosse.
Watch Danny's video from the 2022 NCAA Convention here.
Estela Pérez-Somarriba
School: University of Miami (Florida)
Sport: Tennis
Major: Economics
Estela Pérez-Somarriba was the NCAA Division I singles champion in 2019 and was runner-up in singles in 2021. A five-time Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American, she is tied for the most career wins in the NCAA tournament (17). The 2021 ITA National Player of the Year ended the season ranked first nationally. In 2019, she won the Honda Sports Award for tennis. She was named Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year in 2018 and 2019 and is second for career singles wins in ACC history. She earned the ITA Southeast Region Cissie Leary Sportsmanship Award in 2021 and the ITA Southeast Region Arthur Ashe Sportsmanship and Leadership Award in 2019 and 2020. Pérez-Somarriba represented Spain at the 2015 European Summer Cup. The summa cum laude graduate was the 2019 and 2021 Atlantic Coast Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year and received an ACC postgraduate scholarship in 2020. Pérez-Somarriba served two years on her campus Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and was a team captain. Pérez-Somarriba volunteered with Special Olympics and the Miami Mission Homeless Shelter. She also was a volunteer coach for Hurricane Aces and St. Phillips Episcopal Church tennis clinics.
Watch Estela's video from the 2022 NCAA Convention here.
Kendall Sosa
School: Illinois Wesleyan University
Sport: Basketball
Major: Marketing
Guard Kendall Sosa was named Women's Basketball Coaches Association Division III Player of the Year in 2021, the first player in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin history to earn that honor. A finalist for the 2021 Division III Honda Athlete of the Year, she earned first-team All-America honors from the WBCA and D3hoops.com in 2021 and honorable mention accolades from D3hoops.com in 2020. In 2021, she was second nationally in average points per game (26.7), and her career three-point shooting was 40.3%. Sosa led Illinois Wesleyan to three CCIW tournament championships and three NCAA tournament berths. She was a 2021 CoSIDA first-team Academic All-American and received the Jack Swartz Award from her conference for academic excellence and leadership. A team captain, Sosa served as vice president of recruitment for the Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity and was a member of the National Society of Leadership and Success. She helped raise money for Special Olympics through an annual Polar Plunge and assisted with SOAR sports nights on campus. She also volunteered with the Midwest Food Bank.
Watch Kendall's video from the 2022 NCAA Convention here.
