Since the early 1960s, the Pac-12 Conference (Pac-8 back then) has awarded medals to each school’s top senior male and female student-athlete. Arizona’s recipients this year are as deserving as any others from the past.
Swimmer Brooks Fail and women’s basketball star Sam Thomas are the UA’s recipients of the 2021-22 Tom Hansen Conference Medal.
Fail capped his UA career in March by posting up three All-American performances at the NCAA championships, giving him 11 overall. The Tucson native holds the school record in the 400-meter individual medley and the 1,650-meter freestyle.
Thomas, who is now playing professionally up the road for the Phoenix Mercury, was the heart and soul of Arizona’s ascension from Pac-12 doormat to NCAA tourney runner-up.