May 29, 2009

Updated on August 20 at 12:57 p.m. CT

Complete listing of Academic All-Big Ten Honorees

As the 2008-09 school year comes to a close, the Big Ten Conference recognizes a total of 1,048 spring and at-large sports student-athletes who have been named to the Academic All-Conference team. The list of honored student-athletes features 80 baseball players, 76 softball players, 124 women’s rowers, 49 women’s and 37 men’s golfers, 55 women’s and 47 men’s tennis standouts, 188 women’s and 159 men’s track and field athletes and 135 women’s (representing water polo, ice hockey, fencing, synchronized swimming, lightweight rowing, lacrosse, pistol and rifle) and 98 men’s (representing ice hockey, volleyball, lacrosse, fencing, rowing, pistol and rifle) at-large athletes. To be eligible for Academic All-Big Ten selection, student-athletes must be letterwinners who are in at least their second academic year at their institution and carry a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher.

At least 13 Big Ten student-athletes from five different schools have maintained unblemished GPAs. Track and field student-athletes lead the way with six honorees boasting perfect GPAs, including Illinois’ Travis Leonard (Gr., Geography) and Brandon Matthies (So., Industrial Management), Iowa’s Jocelyn Burke (Jr., Psychology/Sociology), Katie Ellis (Jr., English/Cinema) and Hannah Roeder (Jr., International Studies/Intergrative Physiology) and Brice Wilson (Sr., /Mechanica Engineering), and Minnesota’s Hans Storvick (Gr., Sports Management). In men’s golf, Drew Allenspach (Sr., Accounting/Finance) has maintained a 4.0 as a member of the Indiana squad, while Iowa softball standout Colleen McGlaughlin (Sr., Actuarial Science) has also tallied a perfect 4.0. In rowing, Indiana’s Emily Kasavana (Jr., Business Economic Consulting), Iowa’s Anna Kolden (So., Elementary Education) and Michigan State’s Joan Hayner (So., History) also boast perfect GPAs. Minnesota’s Matt Nohelty (Gr., Computer Science) maintains a perfect GPA as a member of the baseball team.

The Academic All-Big Ten award winners also achieved excellence outside of the classroom. On the golf course, Purdue’s Maria Hernandez (Sr., Management) earned top national honors at the NCAA Championship. Prior to that run, Hernandez led the Boilermakers to the Big Ten Championship, while also collecting top individual conference honors. In men’s track and field, Minnesota’s Aaron Studt (Jr., Business Marketing & Education) was tabbed Big Ten Field Athlete of the Year and of the Championships. Michigan’s Geena Gall (Sr., Communications) earned Track Athlete of the Year and of the Championships accolades, while Purdue’s Kara Patterson (Gr., Nutrition, Fitness & Health) was lauded as Field Athlete of the Year, and Minnesota’s Alicia Rue (Jr., Math/Education) and Penn State’s Emma Schmelzer (Jr., Anthropology) took home Co-Field Athlete of the Championships honors. For the second straight season, Northwestern’s Maria Mosolova (So., Economics) was named the women’s tennis Athlete of the Year. On the water, Michigan State’s Sarah Schmidt (Sr., Special Education) was named women’s rowing Athlete of the Year.

Overall, the Big Ten Conference recognized 2,255 Academic All-Big Ten honorees during the 2008-09 academic year, the highest total in the last 15 seasons, eclipsing the previous best of  2,095 set just one year ago. Ohio State topped the Big Ten for the seventh straight year with 307 honorees this year, while Minnesota ranked second with 258 Academic All-Big Ten picks, and Penn State placed third with 253 honorees. The Nittany Lions still top all conference programs with 3,312 Academic All-Big Ten picks over the last 15 years, followed by the Buckeyes with 3,224 selections.

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