IU Athletes of the Year announced

Three highly decorated IU athletes will add a 2002-03 IU Student-Athletes of the Year award to their list of accolades. Olympic diver Sara Hildebrand and 2003 NCAA Javelin Champion Irina Kharun share the Female Athlete of the Year award, while Soccer National Player of the Year Pat Noonan took the men's award. \nKharun finished off her IU career with a bang when she took 2003 NCAA Championship in the javelin event. With her win, she became the first Hoosier to win the national title in more than ten years, while simultaneously setting an American college record with her 202-foot-10-inch throw. The two-time All-American also won the NCAA Outdoor Regional javelin title, breaking a record at Ohio State's Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. As for the American college record, Kharun cited her coach as an inspiration for her NCAA Championship throw.\n"My dad (former Soviet javelin thrower Vladmimar Kharun) has always told me that the last throw of a competition is for the coach," Kharun said. "You should give it your best on your last throw to show your coach how much you respect them."\nAnd she certainly gave coach Randy Heisler respect by winning the NCAA Championships, and she is now an IU Athlete of the Year.\nKharun shares this year's award with Hildebrand. However, the IU Female Athlete of the Year award is nothing new to Hildebrand -- she has been given the distinction for the last two years. The former Olympian was recognized as both the Big Ten Diver of the Year and Diver of the Championships after winning individual titles on 1-Meter, 3-Meter and 10-Meter platform events in her senior season. Her accomplishments did not end at the conference level, as she was also named as an All-American in both the 1-Meter and 3-Meter springboard events. These two titles brought her All-American award total to 10. Fresh out of college, Hildebrand continued to perform by earning the All-Around Award at the Speedo National Diving Championships in June. \nDespite her talents and numerous accolades, Hildebrand is a very humble person.\n"I'm just an average person like everybody else," Hildebrand said in a press release. "I just have a talent. Other people have talents in many other things they do."\nNoonan is also a repeat winner of the IU Athlete of the Year distinction, as he took the men's title in both his junior and senior seasons as a Hoosier. The three-time All-American was selected as the Big Ten Conference Player of the Year in 2001 and 2002 and earned first-team All-Big Ten honors three times.The talented offensive threat scored 37 points on 14 goals and nine assists in IU's 2002 campaign. His offensive prowess allowed him to become the 14th player in Indiana soccer history to score 100 points in a career. In total, Noonan scored 127 points in his career, good for sixth on IU's all-time list. \nNow in his first year as a member of the Major League Soccer's New England Revolution, Noonan likes to perform for the fans.\n"I just enjoy being in the offensive third of the field and making things happen with the pass and on the dribble," Noonan said on the MLS Web site. "I like to make the game exciting, get everyone involved and entertain the crowd"