Big Ten Announces Spring Academic All-Conference Teams - BIG TEN CONFERENCE Official Athletic Site

Big Ten Announces Spring Academic All-Conference Teams

The Big Ten Conference recognizes a total of 1,040 spring and at-large sports student-athletes who have been named to the Academic All-Conference team.

June 2, 2010

Complete list of 2010 Academic All-Big Ten Honorees

Park Ridge, Ill.--As the 2009-10 school year comes to a close, the Big Ten Conference recognizes a total of 1,041 spring and at-large sports student-athletes who have been named to the Academic All-Conference team. The list of honored student-athletes features 79 baseball players, 71 softball players, 117 women's rowers, 40 women's and 54 men's golfers, 55 women's and 50 men's tennis standouts, 192 women's and 146 men's track and field athletes and 136 women's (representing water polo, ice hockey, fencing, synchronized swimming, lightweight rowing, lacrosse, pistol and rifle) and 101 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 15 Big Ten student-athletes from six different schools have maintained unblemished GPAs. Track and field student-athletes led the way with seven honorees boasting perfect GPAs, including the Iowa duo of Katie Ellis (Sr., English/Cinema) and Hannah Roeder (Sr., International Studies/Integrative Physiology), Minnesota's Raymond Blackledge (Sr., Architecture) and Kathryn Ritter (So., Undeclared), Ohio State's Lauren Kohls (So., Family and Consumer Science), and Purdue's Kara Conflenti (So., Nursing) and Elaine Gilbert (So., Psychology). In rowing, Iowa's Anna Kolden (Jr., Elementary Education), Michigan's Margaret Deinek (Sr., Graduate School) and Michigan State's Breanne Walkowiak (So., Kinesiology) also boast perfect GPAs. In men's golf, Dave Ellis (So., Finance) has maintained a 4.0 as a member of the Michigan State squad, while Minnesota softball student-athlete Whitney Erickson (Jr., Applied Kinesiology) has also tallied a perfect 4.0. Ohio State's Maxwell Stearns (So., Political Science) maintains a perfect GPA as a member of the men's fencing team. Rounding out the group are tennis players Reinoud Haal (Sr., Finance) of Iowa and Dana Guentert (So., Chemistry) from Michigan State.

The Academic All-Big Ten award winners also achieved excellence outside of the classroom. On the golf course, Purdue's Thea Hoffmeister (Jr., Management) was a member of the 2010 NCAA Championship team. Illinois' Scott Langley (Jr., Accountancy) was named the conference's Golfer of the Year after guiding the Orange and Blue to their second straight Big Ten title. In men's track and field, Illinois' Andrew Riley (So., Finance) was tabbed Big Ten Track Athlete of the Year and of the Championships while fellow Illini Angela Bizzari (Sr., Molecular and Cellular Biology) earned Track Athlete of the Year accolades. Michigan's Denise Muresan (Jr., Brain, Behavior and Cognitive Science) was named the women's tennis Athlete of the Year and Ohio State's Chase Buchanan (So., Undeclared) was the men's tennis Athlete of the Year. On the softball diamond, Michigan's Nikki Nemitz (Sr., Physical Education/Teacher Certification) was named Co-Player of the Year.

The conference office will also present the Distinguished Scholar Award at the end of the academic year. Student-athletes eligible for the Distinguished Scholar Award must be letterwinners in at least their second year in residence at their institution. Qualifying student-athletes must have earned a GPA of 3.7 or higher for the current academic year, excluding summer school. The Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award was established by conference Faculty Representatives as an addition to the conference's Academic All-Big Ten program. Last July more than 500 student-athletes were honored as the inaugural recipients of the Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award.

Overall, the Big Ten Conference recognized 2,294 Academic All-Big Ten honorees during the 2009-10 academic year, the highest total in the last 16 seasons, eclipsing the previous best of 2,255 set just one year ago.

The link to the complete listing of 2010 Spring Academic All-Big Ten honorees appears at the top of the page.