James is the first golfer in history to earn this award
By Jim Beers
CHESTER – Saturday October 28, Jarrett James, a former Chester High School athlete, was honored as the “Most Outstanding Male Student Athlete of the Year”, at Illinois College, where he attends school.
Jarrett James, the son of Tony and Christy James of Chester, is the “Male Student-Athlete of the Year” at Illinois College. He was surprised with the honor Saturday October 28 when the Illinois College Blus Boys hosted Grinnell College for Parent’s Day 2023. James is an Agri-Business major at I-C and carries a 3.2 GPA. He is also a stand-out golfer for the Men’s Blue Boys Golf Team and has earned many special awards since his arrival at I-C three years ago. He is now a junior and will graduate in May of 2025. James is a former Chester High School golfer and led the YellowJackets during his years at CHS. Photo Provided
The award was a huge surprise to both him and his parents, Tony and Christy James of Chester. Jarett said, “My golf coach called me at 9:00 a.m. this morning (Saturday October 28) to let me know that I had won the award and that it was going to be presented to me at halftime of the football game this afternoon.”
Saturday was “Family Day” at Illinois College and Division III Illinois College was hosting Grinnel College from Grinnel, Iowa. The Illinois College Blue Boys won the game in devastating fashion, 93-0. Earlier in the season the I-C football team defeated another team, 72-0, so there was a large crowd to see the game and witness James receive his honor at halftime.
Jarrett is a junior at Illinois College, in Jacksonville, Illinois. He is studying Agri-Business. He is a good student and is currently carrying a 3.2 overall grade point average.
James said, “I grew up around agricultural activities. My grandfather leases his ground out to a local farmer and I have always been exposed to farming, farm machinery, and all that goes along with it. I just kind of picked up interest in the area of farming and decided to study Agri-Business at I-C”.
“I am still not sure what area of Agri-Business I want to become involved in, but I am studying all areas of it at this time and will zero in on a particular special area of interest soon. There a lot of options in the field of Agri-Business.”
The award that James earned and received was a combined academic and athletic award titled the “Downer Award”. The award is given to one male athlete and one female athlete each year. The female version of the award is titled, the “Hopper Award”.
The Illinois College William J. Downer Award was established in 1967 in for the “Outstanding Male Student-Athlete of the Year”. It was established by Robert “Bob” Edward Downer ’64 and James “Jim” Mitchell Downer ’66, in honor of their father. The 2023 award was earned by Jarrett James of Chester.
During the presentation to James, The I-C stadium announcer said, “During his time on the Hilltop, Jarrett has been a member of the Illinois College Men’s Golf Team. He has been named as the “Newcomer of the Year”, a “1st Team All-SLIAC Conference” selection, “SLIAC Player of the Week”, and he has “won two tournaments”.
“Jarrett had etched his name into the I-C Golf record books with a scoring average of 75.45. That includes six rounds of par or better finishes. While at I-C Jarrett has a counting score percentage of 95 percent. That means the team has counted “his” score as part of the lowest four scores in 19-of-the-20 tournaments in which he played”.
Jarrett has been part of numerous team records. That includes a team “18-hole” school record with a score of 287, and a team “36-hole” school record with a score of 598. He was also part of the only team in school history to finish with a round “under par” with a score of 287!”
Since the award started in 1967, Jarrett James is the only golfer to win this award. Jarrett’s mother, Christy, said, “The stats they used are from Jarrett’s freshman year. He continues to break these records each year since then.”
“Jarrett was told the morning of the presentation that he would be receiving the honor at halftime of the Blue Boy’s Football game that afternoon. We were therefore, unable to attend the ceremony, but we were able to watch it live on the school’s website.”
“We are so proud of him that out of all the male athletes of all I-C sports, he was chosen to receive the 2023 Downer Award. Way to go Jarrett!”