May 31, 2007

Park Ridge, Ill. - A total of 54 Illinois athletes from eight spring sports have been named Academic All-Big Ten. To be eligible for Academic All-Big Ten selection, student-athletes must be letterwinners in at least their second academic year at their institution and carry a career grade-point average (GPA) of 3.0 or better. Illinois athletes honored include 11 athletes from baseball, three from men's golf, six from women's golf, eight from softball, one from men's tennis, two from women's tennis, 14 from men's track & field and nine from women's track & field.

The spring honorees included Yvonne Mensah, who won four individual titles in leading the Illini to the Big Ten Women's Track championship, baseball's Ryan Snowden who posted a school-record 25-game hitting streak, softball's Shanna Diller, who set a new Illinois record with 16 home runs in 2007 and Ruben Gonzales, who won key matches in the men's tennis team's run to the national title game.

Here is a complete list of those Illini honored:

BASEBALL

	Name	Year	Major	Hometown 
Ryan Hastings	SR	Recreation, Sport & Tourism	Mattoon, Ill.
Aaron Ifft	SR	Community Health	Fairbury, Ill.
Omar Kadir	SR	Kinesiology	Surrey, B.C.
Brian Long	SR	Aerospace Engineering	Frankfort, Ill.
Aaron Martin	SO	Recreation, Sport & Tourism	Georgetown Ill.
Ben Reeser	SO	Marketing	Bloomington, Ill.
Mike Rohde	SR	Speech Communications	Brookfield, Wis.
Jonathan Smiley	SR	Animal Sciences	East Lynn, Ill.
Ryan Snowden	SR	Community Health	Mattoon, Ill.
Michael Stankiewicz	JR	Sociology	Des Plaines, Ill.
Nick Stockwell	JR	Kinesiology	Harvey, Ill.

MEN'S GOLF

	Name	Year	Major	Hometown 
Kyle Hosick	SR	Recreation, Sport & Tourism	Carmi, Ill.
Mark Ogren	SR	History	Daphne, Ala.
Andy Shiels	JR	Agriculture & Consumer Economics	Rockford, Ill.

WOMEN'S GOLF

	Name	Year	Major	Hometown 
Casey Burden	JR	Broadcast Journalism	Lake Forest, Ill.
Kristine Cook	JR	Kinesiology	Fishers, Ind.
Nancy Featherstone	SO	Mathematics	Franklin, Ill.
Stephanie Mory	JR	Kinesiology	Haslett, Mich.
Meghan Naik	SR	Speech Communications	Normal, Ill.
Seul Ki Park	JR	Community Health	Winnetka, Ill.

SOFTBALL

	Name	Year	Major	Hometown 
Sarah Bryers	JR	Kinesiology	Bloomingdale, Ill.
Brooke Buzard	SO	General Curriculum	Glenview, Ill.
Claire DeVreese	JR	Sport Management	Mishawaka, Ind.
Shanna Diller	JR	Advertising	Normal, Ill.
Katie Gaitros	JR	Molecular & Cellular Biology	Pekin, Ill.
Molly Lawhead	SR	Sport Management	Monticello, Ill.
Sydney Lisy	SR	Chemistry	Joliet, Ill.
Kisten Martin	SR	Kinesiology	Vienna, Ill.

MEN'S TENNIS

	Name	Year	Major	Hometown 
Ruben Gonzales	JR	Recreation, Sport & Tourism	Terre Haute, Ind.

WOMEN'S TENNIS

	Name	Year	Major	Hometown 
Alejandra Meza Cuadra	SO	Political Science	Lima, Peru
Momei Qu	JR	Electrical Engineering	Portland, Ore.

MEN'S TRACK & FIELD

	Name	Year	Major	Hometown 
John Adamczyk	JR	Economics	Palatine, Ill.
Justin Aronson	SR	Engineering	Roscoe, Ill.
Jason Bill	SR	Community Health	Buda, Ill.
Pierre Bush	JR	History	Indianapolis, Ind.
Erik DiSilvestro	SR	Political Science	Palatine, Ill.
Matt Flaherty	JR	Civil Engineering	Springfield, Ill.
Paul Johnson	JR	Finance	Tulsa, Okla.
Jeremy Kruidenier	SR	Political Science	Champaign, Ill.
Travis Leonard	JR	Geography	Mahomet, Ill.
Ed Mastny	SR	Geography	Berwyn, Ill.
Matt Ragusa	JR	Chemistry	Naperville, Ill.
Alister Ross	JR	Agriculture Finance	Brisbane, Australia
Greg Shroka	SO	Architectural Studies	Cedar Lake, Ind.
Dan Stock	SR	Accountancy	Mt. Prospect, Ill.

WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD

	Name	Year	Major	Hometown 
Tiara Armstrong	JR	Community Health	Dayton, Ohio
Alondra Cooper	JR	Kinesiology	West Palm Beach, Fla.
Yvonne Mensah	SR	Kinesiology	Surrey, B.C.
Amanda Pintaro	JR	Advertising	Hinsdale, Ill.
Camile Robinson	JR	Sport Management	Manchester, Jamaica
Carlene Robinson	JR	Tourism Management	Manchester, Jamaica
LaNeisha Waller	JR	Sociology	Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Ashley Whittaker	JR	Art & Design	Peoria, Ill.
Jackie Ziegler	SO	General Curriculum	Deerfield, Ill.