Arizona Athletics

Softball

Arizona’s 2025-26 Big 12 Athlete of the Year Nominees

The 2025-26 Big 12 Athlete of the Year nominees will be featured in alphabetical order by school starting Monday, July 13, through Wednesday, July 22, at 11 a.m. CT and 2 p.m. CT.

Each institution nominated one male and one female athlete of any classification who competed for their institution during the 2025-26 school year. Student-athletes were required to be in good academic standing and must have participated in a league-sponsored sport.

The 16 full-member institutions that competed during the 2025-26 academic year are eligible.

The winners will be announced Thursday, July 23. Stay tuned to Big12Sports.com and the league’s social media platforms to see the remaining candidates.

This morning’s featured candidates are Arizona’s Sydney Stewart and Jay Friend.

Arizona Female Athlete of the Year Candidate
Sydney Stewart, Softball
Sr., San Jose, Calif.
Accomplishments
  • Big 12 Player of the Year and Big 12 Batting Champion after hitting .490 in Conference play while leading the league during Big 12 play in home runs (13), RBIs (40), slugging percentage (1.314), walks (27) and on-base percentage (.655).
  • NFCA First Team All-American and Second Team All-American by D1Softball and Softball America, also named a USA Softball Player of the Year Top 25 finalist.
  • Arizona’s all-time leader in slugging percentage (.866) and finished her Wildcat career with a .381 batting average and 40 home runs in two seasons.
  • Helped lead Arizona to a 37-win season and its 38th NCAA Regional appearance while earning recognition as one of 17 players nationally to receive a Golden Ticket to the AUSL Draft.
Arizona Male Athlete of the Year Candidate
Jay Friend, Men’s Tennis
Sr., Tokyo, Japan
Accomplishments
  • Big 12 Co-Player of the Year and All-Big 12 First Team selection in both singles and doubles after leading Arizona to the Big 12 regular season title. 
  • ITA First Team All-American who finished the season ranked No. 3 nationally in singles and No. 1 in the ITA Southwest Regional rankings. 
  • Winningest singles player in program history with 110 career victories and posted a 19-3 record in No. 1 singles during the 2026 season. 
  • Helped lead Arizona to its first NCAA Championship Elite Eight appearance in program history while earning CSC Academic All-America honors and being named the recipient of the 2026 Arizona Athletics Leadership Award.   
The full list of nominees for each school can be found below.

2025-26 Big 12 Athletes of the Year Nominees
Arizona - Sydney Stewart and Jay Friend