The Barbie Tootle Buckeye Spirit Award is designed to honor individuals who have demonstrated unconditional loyalty and support of women's athletics as a Buckeye fan.

2011 Winner Andy Geiger (c) with Barbie Tootle (r) & Belinda Quisenberry (l)

Andy Geiger - He served as Director of Athletics at The Ohio State University for eleven years. His time at Ohio State was known as the “Golden Era” for Buckeye athletics, resulting in new facilities, national championships, fiscal stability and academic excellence. Geiger was one of college athletics most respected leaders. In June 2004, he was honored as the Division I-A Northeast Region Athletics Director of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. In 2003, he received the John L. Toner Award, which is presented annually to the college athletics director of the year, and the Sports Business Journal Award as director of the year.

At Ohio State, Geiger oversaw a program with thirty-six varsity sports, more than 900 student-athletes and an annual operating budget that exceeded $80 million. Under his direction, the Buckeyes prospered both on the fields of competition and academically. At a time when many schools were dropping sports because of budget constraints, Geiger added three women’s sports: ice hockey, lacrosse and rowing. He also assembled one of the premiere coaching staffs in America and successfully spearheaded a drive to upgrade the Buckeyes’ aging facilities. He upgraded the Bill Davis Baseball Stadium and renovated the Ohio Stadium. He built the Jerome Schottenstein Center, the Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, the McCorkle Center, and the Younkin Success Center. Because of Geiger’s commitment, Ohio State student-athletes and fans are able to enjoy some of the finest facilities in all of college athletics. These premiere facilities allow Ohio State to host Big Ten, NCAA regional and national championship competitions, bringing notoriety to the university, the city of Columbus and the state of Ohio. The 2011 Princeton Review for college rankings recently ranked Ohio State’s athletic facilities 5th in the nation.

Geiger, a native of Syracuse, N.Y. enjoys golf, fly-fishing, model trains, all music (jazz especially), and spending time with family.