Campbell, Tkaczuk Chosen As John Taylor Women’s Scholar-Athlete Award Winners
Basketball player Olivia Campbell and gymnast Baylee Tkaczuk were named the 2020 winners of the UW-Oshkosh John Taylor Women's Senior Scholar-Athlete Award.
The John Taylor Award is presented annually to an outstanding senior student-athlete who has compiled a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 or higher. The award reflects not only individual athletic achievements, but also embodies the ideals of team contribution, scholastic endeavor and community involvement.
Campbell started the last 86 contests she played in and helped UW-Oshkosh to 93 victories, three NCAA Division III postseason appearances, two WIAC regular season tiles and two WIAC tournament championships during her 116-game career.
Campbell received her second All-WIAC honorable mention and third WIAC All-Defensive Team awards this past season as UW-Oshkosh compiled a 20-10 record, won the WIAC tournament and advanced to the third round of the Division III Championship before the coronavirus pandemic canceled the remaining portion of the 2019-20 campaign.
Campbell established career bests by averaging 7.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.8 steals this past season. She played a Division III-leading 1,043 minutes while ranking 21st in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.02) and 38th in assists (121).
The Notre Dame Academy (Green Bay) graduate concluded her career with 523 points, 424 rebounds, 304 assists, 163 steals and 63 blocked shots. She scored a career-high 19 points at Loras College (Iowa) last November.
UW-Oshkosh won 20-plus games during each of Campbell's four seasons, including a pair of 26-4 records when the Titans won the WIAC regular season title and advanced to the third round of the Division III Championship.
Campbell graduated in December with a marketing degree. Her 3 1/2 years as a student resulted in an impressive 3.93 cumulative grade point average. Campbell was named to the UW-Oshkosh Dean's List six times and the WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll three times. She also was a finalist for the 2020 WIAC Judy Kruckman Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete Award.
Campbell was a Community Relations/Marketing Intern for the Green Bay Blizzard during the first six months of 2019. Her community service included volunteer work with the Salvation Army, Feeding America, Pass To Play Project, Special Olympics, Oshkosh Celebration of Lights, and the Oshkosh Area Community Pantry.
Tkaczuk, the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association's 2020 Outstanding Senior of the Year, competed on both the balance beam and uneven bars during all nine of UW-Oshkosh's meets this season. She ranked second in the NCGA West Region and fifth nationally on the uneven bars with her average score of 9.6625 and 17th regionally and 27th nationally on the balance beam with her average score of 9.5563.
Tkaczuk recorded season-best scores of 9.70 on the balance beam at the Harley-Davidson Invitational held Feb. 7 and 9.75 on the uneven bars at the Texas Woman's University Quadrangular held Jan. 26.
At the WIAC Championship on March 7, Tkaczuk helped UW-Oshkosh to its first league title since 1996 by finishing second on the uneven bars and 18th on the balance beam with her scores of 9.675 and 9.375, respectively. Tkaczuk, the 2017 WIAC balance beam champion, also finished fifth on the balance beam and ninth on the uneven bars at the 2019 conference championship and second on the uneven bars at the 2018 league meet.
Tkaczuk received All-America honors on the uneven bars this season from both the NCGA and Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association. Tkaczuk was scheduled to compete with her UW-Oshkosh teammates at the NCGA Championship on March 27 in Ithaca. N.Y., but that meet was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Tkaczuk took first place on the uneven bars at the 2017 and 2018 NCGA Championships. Her winning score of 9.85 on the apparatus in 2018 established a championship record. Tkaczuk also finished fourth nationally on the uneven bars in 2019 and sixth on the balance beam in 2018 to earn All-America honors.
Tkaczuk came to UW-Oshkosh from Minooka High School in Illinois. She owns a 3.60 grade point average as a major in psychology and was named the 2020 WIAC Judy Kruckman Women's Gymnastics Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The three-time WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll and UW-Oshkosh Dean's List member was one of 125 students from across the UW System who presented their research at the 17th annual Research in the Rotunda event March 11 in Madison.
Tkaczuk has donated nearly 200 hours of patient care at the Winnebago Mental Health Institute and been a volunteer with Special Olympics and Feeding America.
Other nominees for this year's UW-Oshkosh John Taylor Women's Senior Scholar-Athlete Award were Ashton Keene from cross country/track & field, Dianna Scheibe from golf, Madelyn Runyan from soccer, Natalie Dudek from softball, Sydney Challoner from swimming & diving, Alyssa Leffler from tennis and Samantha Jaeke from volleyball.
The UW-Oshkosh John Taylor Women's Senior Scholar-Athlete Award was first presented in 1981.