Oklahoma Sooners: Baker Mayfield, Maggie Nichols sweep Big 12 Athlete of the Year honors

BOOM!

For the second time in three years, the Oklahoma Sooners have swept the Big 12 Male and Female Big 12 Athlete of the Year Awards. The 2017 Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, Baker Mayfield, has claimed the male athlete award, while national champion gymnast and Arthur Ashe Courage Award recipient Maggie Nichols takes the honor of the women’s side. Buddy Hield and Paige Parker also swept the awards during the 2015-16 season.

While there were plenty of athletes — particularly at Oklahoma — who could have claimed an award of this nature with their accomplishments, this seems like a no-brainer. Mayfield had one of the greatest individual seasons in college football history, claiming the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award, Davey O’Brien Award, Manning Award, Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award and Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, and was named AP Player of the Year and Sporting News Player of the Year for his efforts in 2017.

Nichols was the individual all-around champion and earned five All-America accolades this season, and she’s now the first gymnast to ever win a Big 12 Athlete of the Year Award. Nichols is as accomplished as any gymnast out there, but more important are her contributions outside of the realm of competition, as she was the first gymnast to come forward about the sexual abuse inflicted by Larry Nassar. She, along with hundreds of other gymnasts, received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYS last week.