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The two were announced as the Milt Weisbecker Male Athlete of the
Year and Jill Hutchison Female Athlete of the Year, respectively, at
Sunday's annual Walk of Champions on the campus of Illinois State.
The announcement was made at the conclusion of the ceremony by
Sheahon Zenger, director of athletics.
Jane Fulton, assistant athletics director of academics and life
skills, was pleased with the selections.
"I can't think of other student-athletes who are more deserving
of these awards than Boomer and Krystal," Fulton said. "Boomer has
been such a great ambassador for the university because of his work
in the classroom and in the community, as well as on the field.
Krystal's accomplishments throughout her career have been amazing,
and she too embodies what it truly means to be a student-athlete at
Illinois State University. I am very excited for both Krystal and
Boomer because the two truly deserve these honors."
Grigsby, whose success has permeated the Illinois State and
Bloomington-Normal communities, was not present at the event because
he is finishing preseason camp with the Kansas City Chiefs of the
National Football League. Featherston was on hand, however, to
receive her award and speak to the new Illinois State
student-athletes.
"First, let me say that I am so very honored to be this year's
recipient," Featherston said. "I wasn't expecting such a prestigious
award but am grateful to be representing Illinois State. I want to
encourage each of you (student-athletes) to be proud of the
university and compete to the best of your ability."
The most decorated student-athlete to ever put on a Redbird
uniform, Grigsby was a three-time Buck Buchanan Award nominee and
also the only three-time winner of this university honor. A
fifth-round NFL draft pick, he has already begun making a name for
himself in the professional ranks, fighting for a position on
special teams and as a backup linebacker.
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His list of accomplishments is virtually endless. The three-time
Gateway Football Conference Defensive Player of the Year led the
conference with 129 tackles in 2004. His career numbers are
outstanding as well, as he tallied his 580th tackle on Nov. 13,
2004, topping current Redbird assistant coach and former Milt
Weisbecker Male Athlete of the Year (2000) Galen Scott. Grigsby's
name appears atop the Gateway, NCAA and Illinois State career
tackles list. Three seemed to be the lucky number for this year's
recipients, as Featherston is the first-ever three-time Valley Diver
of the Year. The Kokomo, Ind., native was also picked by her
teammates as the third straight Most Valuable Redbird Diver for her
performance during the 2004-05 season.
Featherston, who was awarded the Missouri Valley Conference Diver
of the Week honor seven times last season, won both the 1- and
3-meter diving events at the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference
championships, helping lead the 'Birds to a third-place team finish.
This was the third consecutive year that she achieved such a feat.
Based on her performance, Featherston qualified for the NCAA diving
regionals. Competing against 39 other divers, she ended her career
with a 14th place finish on the 3-meter board at the Region C zone
diving meet at Purdue.
Featherston placed first on both the 1- and 3-meter boards nine
times in her senior season. Additionally, the Redbird diving
standout was a Valley scholar-athlete in both 2003-04 and 2004-05.
Named after deserving members of the Illinois State family, the
Milt Weisbecker and Jill Hutchison Athlete of the Year awards were
voted on by Redbird head coaches and athletic administrators.
[Illinois
State University news release]
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