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Wisconsin Sports Network and WisSports.net are happy to announce Notre Dame's Christian Collins as the 2024 recipient of the Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch Award as the most outstanding senior running back in Wisconsin, part of the WSN Senior Football Awards.

Christian Collins led the state in rushing as a junior last season with 2,503 yards and 40 touchdowns. Despite missing two games with injury, he's just 20 yards shy of leading the state again heading into the Division 3 title game, currently sitting at 2,676 yards and 37 touchdowns in just 11 games, averaging 243 yards per contest.

He's been getting better as the season goes along, with four, 300-yard rushing performances in his last five games. That includes a career-high 349 yards in a Week 9 victory as the Tritons clinched an outright FRCC-South title against Oshkosh North.

In a 41-21 slugfest against La Crosse Logan in the state semi-finals, the Tritons ran 44 plays; 37 of those were handoffs to Collins, who went for 339 yards and five touchdowns, averaging more than nine yards per attempt.

Collins was recently named as a repeat selection on the WFCA All-State Team, and was recognized as the WFCA Large School Offensive Player of the Year.

Finalists for the award were Collins, Josiah Johnson of Milwaukee Academy of Science, Tommy Lutz of Grafton, Mason Radobicky of Mukwonago, Conner Roche of Columbus, and Paxton Rothmeier of Medford.

Past winners of the award include Appleton North's Steve Lichtfuss (2009), Kenosha Bradford's Melvin Gordon (2010), Waunakee's Leo Musso (2011), Big Foot's Mason Dixon (2012), Saint Mary's Springs' Ike Floyd (2013), Waunakee's Troy Laufenberg (2014), Kimberly's Blair Mulholland (2015), Darlington's Hunter Johnson (2016), Waukesha West's Peter MacCudden (2017), Iola-Scandinavia's Bryce Huettner (2018), Racine Lutheran's Tyler Tenner (2019), Muskego's Alex Current (2020), Durand-Arkansaw's Simon Bauer (2021), Mukwonago's Wynn Stang (2022), and Columbus' Colton Brunell (2023).

The award is named after "Crazylegs" Hirsch, a legendary athlete from Wausau High School who later starred at both the University of Wisconsin and the University of Michigan. Hirsch spent 12 seasons in professional football, including nine seasons with the Los Angeles Rams who moved him to end. His 1951 season is one of the greatest receiving years in NFL history. He caught 66 passes for a record 1495 yards and 17 touchdowns. The yardage mark wasn’t broken for 19 years while his 17 touchdowns tied the record and wasn’t broken until 1984. He later served as the Wisconsin athletic director from 1969 to 1987, overseeing a revival of UW athletics. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1968. Hirsch passed away in 2004. 

The voting panel for the WSN Senior Football Awards consisted of:  Travis Wilson, WSN General Manager and Head Football Writer;  Norbert Durst, WSN Content Manager; Dennis Semrau, ESPN Madison; Bob Brainerd, Thursday Night Throwdown broadcaster; Jimmie Kaska, Civic Media; Dan Barwick, WSN Contributor; Colton Wilson, WSN Content Producer; Fan Vote

Travis Wilson serves as the WisSports.net General Manager, Football Editor, and contributing writer for other parts of the site. Wilson was selected as part of the Sports 40 Under 40 list by Coach & AD Magazine and the National High School Athletic Coaches Association for 2019. The Wisconsin Football Coaches Association (WFCA) named Travis the 2015 recipient of the Dave McClain Distinguished Service Award. He currently serves on the WFCA Executive Board and is a member of the Executive Board of the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association. A graduate of Richland Center High School and Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Travis was a three-sport athlete in high school (football, baseball, basketball), inducted to the Richland Center High School Hall of Fame in 2023, and currently resides in Reedsburg. You can follow him on Twitter at @travisWSN.

For the latest and most up to date football news and recruiting information, follow Travis on Twitter @travisWSN. Email story ideas, recruiting info, etc. to Travis at travis(at)wissports.net.