ROSEMONT, Ill. -- University of Iowa seniors Zoe Douglas of the women's tennis team and Kevin Docherty of the men's cross country, men's track & field programs, were named Iowa's Big Ten Medal of Honor winners for 2017-18 at the University of Iowa Athletics Senior Reception Friday evening.

Docherty, a native of St. Paul, Minnesota, is an academic All-Big Ten and Dean's list student while running track and cross country. He is a four-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree and a member of the UI Dean's list. He shares a relay mark on Iowa's all-time top 10 list, and has been an ISAAC member for four years, chairing the committee from 2016-18. Docherty has volunteered to Fuel Up to Play 60, participated in Iowa's Day of Caring, and attended Penneau Leadership Training in 2017. He interned at Transamerica and RBC Wealth Management in 2017, and graduates in May as a Finance Major with a Risk Management and Insurance Certificate.

The Big Ten Medal of Honor is the conference's most exclusive award, and the first of its kind in intercollegiate athletics to recognize academic and athletic excellence. The Big Ten Medal of Honor was first awarded in 1915 to one student-athlete from the graduating class of each university who had "attained the greatest proficiency in athletics and scholastic work." Big Ten schools currently feature more than 8,200 student-athletes, but only 28 earn this prestigious award on an annual basis. In the 100 years of the Medal of Honor, over 1,300 student-athletes have earned this distinction.