Horizon League Announces #HLSD Athletes of the Year, Newcomers of the Year and Sportsmanship Awards

INDIANAPOLIS (April 16, 2026) – The Horizon League launched our 2026 #HLSD Athletes of the Year, Newcomers of the Year and Sportsmanship Award winners on Thursday, voted on by the League’s head coaches.

IU Indy’s Logan Kelly and Yassin Abdelghany had been named the Men’s Athlete of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, respectively and Oakland’s Lydia Soldatke received each Athlete of the Year and Newcomer of the Year on the ladies’s facet. Green Bay’s Nathan Halbach and Northern Kentucky’s Isabelle Barton had been chosen because the Sportsmanship Award winners.

 

Dig Deeper:

• Logan Kelly earned All-American standing on the NCAA Championships with an 11^th place within the NCAA Championship within the 100 breaststroke with a time of 51.24. He grew to become the primary IU Indy swimmer in program historical past to earn factors on the occasion and the second athlete in Horizon League History to win factors on the occasion. Kelly was a #HLSD Champion within the 200 breaststroke in addition to a three-time swimmer of the week.
• Lydia Soldatke received the Horizon League Championship Freshman of the Meet after incomes two #HLSD Championship wins within the 100 and 100 backstroke. Soldatke was additionally the runner-up within the 200 IM and the 400 Medley Relay. She was a four-time Horizon League Swimmer of the Week and ser the Oakland pool document within the 200 again with a time of 1:56.03 on the Golden Grizzly Classic.

• In his first 12 months within the Horizon League, Yassin Abdelghany swam the third quickest mid main 50 freestyle of all time. At the Horizon League Swimming and Diving Championship, Abdelghany certified for the NCAA Championship with a Horizon League document time within the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle and 100 butterfly.

• Green Bay staff captain Nathan Halbach could possibly be discovered choosing up trash on the deck not solely in his area on the Horizon League Championships however in different staff areas as properly. Halbach volunteers on the optimist membership in Green Bay and is dedicated to constructing a greater Green Bay. He is the Student Body President and a SAAC consultant who has volunteered for the salvation military, humane society and homeless shelters round Green Bay.

• Isabelle Barton improved as a swimmer this season, bit she was all the time supporting her teammates regardless of how she swam or how they swam. She was additionally respectful to teammates, different swimmers, coaches and officers at swim meets. “Izzy competed with heart and integrity at swim meets whether the meet was going well or not,” Northern Kentucky head coach Kevin Woodhull-Smith notes. “She all the time swam laborious whether or not the staff was profitable or shedding.

• The Sportsmanship Award acknowledges student-athletes who’ve distinguished themselves by way of demonstrated acts of sportsmanship and moral conduct. Sportsmanship is outlined as conduct exhibited throughout competitors by student-athletes primarily based on values, respect and integrity.

2026 #HLSD Athletes of the Year and Sportsmanship Award Winners

Men’s Athlete of the Year: Logan Kelly, IU Indianapolis
 

Women’s Athlete and Newcomer of the Year: Lydia Soldatke, Oakland
 

Men’s Newcomer of the Year: Yassin Abdelghany, IU Indianapolis
 

Men’s Sportsmanship Award: Nathan Halbach, Green Bay
 

Women’s Sportsmanship Award: Isabelle Barton, Northern Kentucky
 
Men’s Sportsmanship Finalists

• Nathan Halbach, Green Bay*
• Isaac Wilson, IU Indianapolis
• David Barnett, Northern Kentucky
• Nicholas Karel Subagyo, Oakland

 
Women’s Sportsmanship Finalists

• Grace Foucault, Green Bay
• Isabelle Barton, Northern Kentucky*
• Delaney Buckner, Oakland