STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford women's gymnast Ivana Hong and Cardinal men's volleyball's Conrad Kaminski were named the 2015-16 Pac-12 Tom Hansen Conference Medal Winners, as announced Tuesday by the conference.
A Conference Medal is awarded annually to each member institution's outstanding senior male and female student-athlete based on the exhibition of the greatest combination of performance and achievement in scholarship, athletics and leadership.
A one-hour Pride of the Pac special will air on Pac-12 Network on Thursday, July 6 at 7 p.m. PT, honoring the 24 recipients of the prestigious Tom Hansen Conference Medal.
Hong, a human biology and sociology major, completed her illustrious career with an outstanding senior campaign in which she was named one of six finalists for the AAI Award – given annually to the nation's most outstanding senior women's gymnast.
Hong is a five-time All-American, a four-time All-Pac-12 selection, a two-time NACGC/W Regular Season All-American and a four-time NCAA Regional champion. She registered two top-four national finishes on beam at the NCAA Championships.
Hong has excelled in the classroom as well, where she holds a 3.23 cumulative grade-point average and is a two-time Pac-12 All-Academic selection. The senior interned at the Stanford Sports Medicine Clinic in 2015, created a gymnastics physical education curriculum to be implemented in local schools and plans on pursuing a career in sports medicine.
Kaminski is a three-time AVCA All-American, including a first team-selection in 2016. He finished his career as the school record-holder in the rally scoring era (2001-present) in hitting percentage .462 and blocks per set (1.11). As a senior, Kaminski led the country with 1.45 blocks per set and was the winner of the Ryan Millar Award, presented to the nation's top middle attacker by Off the Block. The New Berlin, Wisconsin native was a three-time All-MPSF honoree and helped guide the Cardinal to the 2014 national title match.
Kaminski also excelled in the classroom, boasting a 3.58 cumulative grade-point average in mechanical engineering. A three-time MPSF All-Academic Team member, he was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America first team (Men's At-Large) as a senior. The winner of the Spirit of Stanford Award at the 2016 Stanford Athletics Board Awards, Kaminski served as Cardinal Council treasurer, was a member of the leadership team for Fellowship of Christian Athletes, volunteered for St. Anthony's Catholic Church and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, and was a Kappa Alpha Order member.
Conference medal winners have been named every year since the 1960-61 academic year. In 2009, the Pac-12 renamed the award the Tom Hansen Conference Medal in honor of Hansen, who retired at the end of June 2009 after serving for 26 years as Commissioner of the Pac-10.
For a full list of the Tom Hansen Conference Medal Award winners, click here.
