The 2020-21 sports year was unlike any other for Hawkeye athletics, coming in the middle of a pandemic.

At the end of each academic year, The Daily Iowan sports section hands out awards to the best of Hawkeye sports. Last year, these awards were given out after COVID-19 led to an early ending to sports. But unlike 2019-20, spring sport athletes played out a full season this year, and winter athletes played in postseason tournaments.

All nine members of the DI sports staff were given an opportunity to vote in each of the six categories to determine the best in Hawkeye athletics.

Full profiles of the award winners will be published on dailyiowan.com throughout the week.

Men’s Team of the Year — Wrestling

Iowa wrestling retained its control of the Big Ten during the 2020-21 season.

Despite a COVID-19 pause within the program that canceled four regular season matches, the Hawkeyes spent the entire season at No. 1 in the nation. In each of its five regular season matches in 2020-21, the Hawkeyes dominated the Big Ten-only slate, going 5-0 against Nebraska, Minnesota, Illinois, Purdue, and Ohio State.

At the 2021 Big Ten Championships, Iowa won its second conference title in a row, overcoming Big Ten rival Penn State.

Iowa won its first NCAA Championship title since 2010, finishing with 129 team points — 15.5 points clear of Penn State. The Hawkeyes crowned one individual national champion and had seven All-Americans.

Women’s Team of the Year — Field Hockey

The Hawkeye field hockey team lived up to the challenge of a spring, conference-only season.

Iowa carried a top-10 ranking in 2020-21, including a lofty No. 2 ranking as it ended the regular season.

Although the Hawkeyes couldn’t clinch a Big Ten Tournament championship, falling in the semifinals to eventual champion Michigan, Iowa nabbed an NCAA Tournament bid as the fourth overall seed in the 12-team championships.

Iowa carried its momentum to its first NCAA Final Four appearance since 2008 before falling to top-seeded and eventual national champion North Carolina, 3-0.

Male Athlete of the Year — Spencer Lee

Lee showed he was the most dominant collegiate wrestler in the nation last season, even with two torn ACLs.

Lee went undefeated throughout the 2020-21 season, posting a 12-0 record with five first-period falls and outscoring his opponents 141-15.

The 125-pounder cruised to a 2021 Big Ten Championship individual title and picked up his third Big Ten Wrestler of the Year honor along the way.

Lee claimed the 2021 Dan Hodge trophy — presented to the best collegiate wrestler — for the second consecutive year, making him the fifth athlete to win the award multiple times.

At the 2020-21 NCAA Wrestling Championships, Lee took down Arizona State’s Brandon Courtney (despite a knee injury) to win his third NCAA individual title in a row, helping the Hawkeyes to their first team title since 2010.

Co-Female Athlete of the Year — Laulauga Tausaga

Tausaga returned to Iowa for a fifth year to compete in the 2021 outdoor season in an attempt to defend her title as the 2019 NCAA women’s discus national champion.

In her final Big Ten Outdoor Championships, the thrower became the first athlete in Iowa track and field history to be a four-time Big Ten Outdoor Champion. At the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Tausaga garnered two All-America honors, finishing sixth in the shot put with a 17.29-meter throw.

Although Tausaga had a career best throw in discus, at 63.65 meters, she finished runner-up at the national championships.

Co-Female Athlete of the Year & Newcomer of the Year — Caitlin Clark

Clark came to Iowa women’s basketball with hefty expectations, and she lived up to them.

As a five-star recruit, Clark was tasked with the starting point guard role after the departure of Kathleen Doyle.

Throughout her freshman season, Clark broke a litany of records while leading the women’s basketball team to a second-place finish at the 2021 Big Ten Tournament, as well as an NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearance.

She set the bar with 13 Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors and unanimously won Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Clark also nabbed the Dawn Staley Award, given to the nation’s best point guard.

As a freshman, Clark averaged 26.6 points, 7.1 assists, and 5.9 rebounds per game.

Coach of the Year — director of track and field Joey Woody

In an extensive track and field season, Woody continued the dominance of the Hawkeye men’s team.

Under Woody’s supervision, Iowa men’s track and field swept the Big Ten Indoor and Outdoor conference titles for the first time in 50 years and posted a 12th place finish at the NCAA Championships. Woody also helped coach fifth-year senior Jaylan McConico to a national runner-up finish in the 110-meter hurdles.

Woody was named the Big Ten Indoor Coach of the Year and the Big Ten Outdoor Coach of the Year in 2020-21.