• Michigan Medal of Honor Recipients

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan Athletic Department announced Tuesday (June 9) that seniors Tommy Cope (men's swimming and diving) and Guadalupe Fernandez Lacort (field hockey) were named its 2020 Big Ten Medal of Honor recipients.

The Big Ten Medal of Honor is awarded to one male and one female student from the graduating class of each member institution who has demonstrated excellence on and off the field throughout their college career. The highest honor that a student competing in conference athletics can achieve in the Big Ten, the award was established in 1915 and was the first award in intercollegiate athletics to demonstrate support for the educational emphasis placed on athletics. During the past century, the Big Ten Medal of Honor has been awarded to more than 1,300 honorees. These individuals have translated their campus experience into success in all walks of life.

Cope, a native of Dayton, Ohio, is the department's male recipient. He is the 16th Big Ten Medal of Honor recipient from the men's swimming and diving program and fifth in the last nine years.

One of the team's four captains this season, Cope was instrumental in helping Michigan recapture the Big Ten championship in February. He was a two-time Big Ten champion, winning the 200-yard breaststroke and swimming a leg on the winning 800-yard freestyle relay. He also won bronze medals in the 200-yard IM and 400-yard IM. He had individually qualified for the NCAA Championships and became a three-time CSCAA All-American after the meet was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cope was an All-American in the 200-yard breaststroke as a sophomore in 2018, and corralled five additional CSCAA All-America Honorable Mentions over the course of his career. His name appears four times on the school's all-time top performers list; in addition to holding the school record in the 200-yard breaststroke, Cope finished his career ranked sixth in both the 100-yard breaststroke and 400-yard IM, and seventh in the 200-yard IM.

Last year, Cope was awarded the 2019 Bates/Deskins Award, given annually to the top junior student-athlete at the University of Michigan. This year, he was a Big Ten Postgraduate Scholarship recipient. Outside the pool, Cope conducts biomedical and mechanical engineering research with HaptiX Lab and the University of Michigan Hospital, and recently got a paper accepted at the 2020 World Haptics Conference.

An Academic All-Big Ten honoree and Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, he graduated from the College of Engineering with a degree in electrical engineering, and plans to return in the fall to pursue a master's degree in electrical and computer engineering.

Fernandez Lacort, a native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, is the second Michigan field hockey player to earn the prestigious Big Ten Medal of the Honor, joining Shannon Scavelli (2016).

Fernandez Lacort was named to the NFHCA All-America first team in 2019, adding to her third-team All-America nod last season, and was voted the Big Ten's 2019 Athlete of the Year after posting career highs in her final collegiate season with three goals, including the game-winner in Michigan's home win over No. 2 Maryland, and a team-best 12 assists.

She also was a unanimous selection to the All-Big Ten first team in 2019, becoming a two-time All-Big Ten first teamer, and was a three-time NFHCA All-West Region honoree. She graduated with seven career goals, 29 assists -- twice leading the Wolverines in helpers -- and 43 points.

U-M's primary stick stopper on its penalty-corner attack and field general in the midfield over the last three seasons, Fernandez Lacort served two years as a team captain and contributed to a stellar 48-17 record over her tenure with two Big Ten titles, a tournament title and three NCAA Tournament appearances, including a trip to the semifinals in 2017.

Fernandez Lacort, an economics major, was a two-time Academic All-Big Ten and three-time NFHCA National Academic Squad honoree, earning Scholar of Distinction recognition in 2018. After earning CoSIDA Academic All-District At-Large first team selection May 21, she is on the ballot for Academic All-America honors.

The Big Ten Medal of Honor was the first award in intercollegiate athletics to demonstrate support for the educational emphasis placed on athletics. It was acclaimed throughout the nation, and in particular by the NCAA "as one of the significant gestures yet made in college sports." The Big Ten Medal of Honor was expanded in 1982 to include one female student-athlete from each institution.