Bairu and Bauer Named UW Athletes of the Year
June 26, 2006 | Men's Cross Country
Simon Bairu, a member of the cross country and track teams, and hockey player Sara Bauer have been named University of Wisconsin Athletes of the Year the school announced Monday.
The honor is the second in as many years for Bairu. The senior from Regina, Saskatchewan, won his second consecutive NCAA Cross Country individual championship in 2005 while leading the team to its first national title since 1988. He was named the USTCA Cross Country Athlete of the Year for the second straight year and an All-American for the third consecutive year. Bairu was a three-time Big Ten Cross Country individual champion while the Badgers won team titles in all four of his years.
Bairu's cross country success also transferred over to the track team. He was named an All-American for the third straight year after he finished third in the 10,000 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Junior Sara Bauer earned her first Athlete of the year honor after leading the women's hockey team to its first national championship. The St. Catharines, Ontario, native was the 2006 Patty Kazmaier Award winner, given to the national player of the year. Bauer was a first-team All-American and All-WCHA selection as well as the WCHA Player of the Year and the WCHA tournament MVP.
Through three seasons at UW, Bauer ranks third on the school 's all-time scoring list with 145 points. She led all Badgers this past season in assists (36) and points (58) and registered 17 multi-point games. When Bauer scored a goal, Wisconsin was 17-0-1 and the Badgers were 27-1-1 when she had at least one point.
Off the ice, Bauer has been an equally proficient student. A two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection, Bauer was recently named the ESPN The Magazine At-Large Academic All-American of the Year in the University Division as voted on by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). She is one of 12 finalists for the University Division Academic All-America of the Year, which includes athletes from all sports.
