University Southern California Trojans
USC's Maribel Flores and Robert Gref Named Jackie Robinson Award Recipients
November 19, 2025 | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Soccer
LOS ANGELES – The Big Ten Conference on Wednesday (Nov. 19) announced the campus winners of the 2025-26 Jackie Robinson Community & Impact Award and USC's Maribel Flores and Robert Gref were among the honorees.
Now in its second year, the award was created to recognize Big Ten student-athletes who strive to have a positive impact within their community in addition to excellence in competition. From the collection of 36 local winners, two overall conference honorees will be selected and announced in the spring of 2026.
Flores, a junior midfielder on the USC women's soccer team, is coming off a season in which she led the Trojans in goals and points and earned Big Ten Midfielder of the Year and All-Big Ten first team honors. Flores' nine goals and 22 points were second in the Big Ten and her three game-winning goals were fifth in the conference.
Flores, who captained USC's squad this year, also volunteered with Team IMPACT, an organization that matches children facing serious illness and disability with college sports teams, and has spent time working with the Girls Who Read program over the last three years. She was also a speaker at the University's Latinx/e Heritage Month Celebration and as a journalism major, has written for USC's Annenberg Media.
A three-time NCAA qualifier for the USC men's diving team, Gref has consistently been one of USC's strongest platform divers since his arrival in 2022. Last season, the then-junior earned Academic All-Big Ten honors and was a consolation finalist at the 2025 Big Ten Championships.
Gref has served the community in various ways while at USC, most recently helping pass out meals to underserved communities in the greater Los Angeles area. On campus, he is a member of USC's Trojan Athletic Senate and also works with the LGBTQ affinity group within the department.
Now in its second year, the award was created to recognize Big Ten student-athletes who strive to have a positive impact within their community in addition to excellence in competition. From the collection of 36 local winners, two overall conference honorees will be selected and announced in the spring of 2026.
Flores, a junior midfielder on the USC women's soccer team, is coming off a season in which she led the Trojans in goals and points and earned Big Ten Midfielder of the Year and All-Big Ten first team honors. Flores' nine goals and 22 points were second in the Big Ten and her three game-winning goals were fifth in the conference.
Flores, who captained USC's squad this year, also volunteered with Team IMPACT, an organization that matches children facing serious illness and disability with college sports teams, and has spent time working with the Girls Who Read program over the last three years. She was also a speaker at the University's Latinx/e Heritage Month Celebration and as a journalism major, has written for USC's Annenberg Media.
A three-time NCAA qualifier for the USC men's diving team, Gref has consistently been one of USC's strongest platform divers since his arrival in 2022. Last season, the then-junior earned Academic All-Big Ten honors and was a consolation finalist at the 2025 Big Ten Championships.
Gref has served the community in various ways while at USC, most recently helping pass out meals to underserved communities in the greater Los Angeles area. On campus, he is a member of USC's Trojan Athletic Senate and also works with the LGBTQ affinity group within the department.
Players Mentioned
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