49 Illini Honored as Big Ten Distinguished Scholars
July 8, 2015 | Baseball, Football, General, Men's Gymnastics, Men's Tennis, Softball, Women's Gymnastics, Soccer, Swimming & Diving, Women's Tennis, Volleyball, Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country, Women's Track & Field, Men's Track & Field
Student-Athletes Lauded for Earning 3.7 GPA or Higher, Including 10 4.0 GPAs at Illinois
2014-15 Big Ten Distinguished Scholars
ROSEMONT, Ill. - The Big Ten Conference recognized 49 Illini student-athletes as Big Ten Distinguished Scholars, announced the conference office Wednesday. Illinois boasts recipients from 14 different sports, led by eight from the women's swimming and diving team.
The complete conference list of 779 includes student-athletes from every institution and 38 different sports who have earned a minimum grade-point average (GPA) of 3.7 or higher for the previous academic year.
The 2014-15 class of Distinguished Scholar Award recipients includes 119 student-athletes who maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA during the previous academic term, including 10 honorees from Illinois which is the most since the award began being awarded in 2009.
In February of 2008, Big Ten Faculty Representatives established a conference academic recognition to supplement the Academic All-Big Ten program. Similar to the Academic All-Big Ten honor, Distinguished Scholar Award recipients must be letterwinners in at least their second academic year at their institution.
However, the Distinguished Scholar Award encompasses only student-athletes with a minimum GPA of 3.7 or higher for the previous academic year, excluding summer school. The Academic All-Big Ten threshold is a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher for a student-athlete's academic career.
Illinois has totaled 284 all-time honorees during the seven years in which the Big Ten Distinguished Scholar award has been handed out.
Illinois' Year-by-Year Big Ten Distinguished Scholars
2009 - 34
2010 - 32
2011 - 51
2012 - 30
2013 - 43
2014 - 45
2015 - 49
| 2014-15 Big Ten Distinguished Scholars from Illinois (4.0 GPA Honorees in Bold) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Sport | Year | Major | |
| Rob McDonnell | Baseball | Sr. | Recreation, Sport & Tourism | |
| Kelly Norris-Jones | Baseball | Sr. | Recreation, Sport & Tourism | |
| Reid Roper | Baseball | Sr. | Elementary Education: Mathematics | |
| Will Brewster | M Cross Country | Jr. | Integrative Biology | |
| Brendan McDonnell | M Cross Country | Sr. | Mechanical Engineering | |
| Jannis Toepfer | M Cross Country | Sr. | Technology Management | |
| Colette Falsey | W Cross Country | Sr. | Kinesiology | |
| Amanda Fox | W Cross Country | Jr. | Kinesiology | |
| Megan Lemersal | W Cross Country | So. | General Curriculum | |
| Chloe Schmidt | W Cross Country | Sr. | Civil Engineering | |
| Alyssa Schneider | W Cross Country | Sr. | Mathematics | |
| Rob Bain | Football | Jr. | Communication | |
| Mason Monheim | Football | Jr. | Community Health | |
| Joe Spencer | Football | So. | Finance | |
| Austin Teitsma | Football | Sr. | Recreation, Sport & Tourism | |
| Max Mayr | M Gymnastics | Jr. | Community Health | |
| Mike Wilner | M Gymnastics | Sr. | Computer Engineering | |
| Heather Foley | W Gymnastics | Jr. | Communication | |
| Mary Jane Horth | W Gymnastics | So. | Kinesiology | |
| Sunny Kato | W Gymnastics | Sr. | Communication and Sociology | |
| Jordan Naleway | W Gymnastics | Sr. | Communication and Social Work | |
| Giana O'Connor | W Gymnastics | Jr. | Recreation, Sport & Tourism | |
| Alia Abu-Douleh | Soccer | So. | Architectural Studies | |
| Hope D'Addario | Soccer | So. | Health Behavior Change | |
| Megan Green | Soccer | Sr. | Health Behavior Change | |
| Kylie Johnson | Softball | Jr. | Kinesiology | |
| Brittany Sanchez | Softball | Sr. | Community Health: Health Education | |
| Danielle Trezzo | Softball | Jr. | Recreation, Sport & Tourism | |
| Hailey Booth | Swimming & Diving | Sr. | Psychology | |
| Jennifer Coady | Swimming & Diving | Jr. | Accountancy | |
| Kayla Dlugopolski | Swimming & Diving | Sr. | Psychology | |
| Megan Marchuk | Swimming & Diving | Sr. | Industrial Engineering | |
| Callan McDermott | Swimming & Diving | Sr. | Community Health | |
| Alison Meng | Swimming & Diving | Sr. | Kinesiology | |
| Erika Murphy | Swimming & Diving | Sr. | Finance | |
| Gabbie Stecker | Swimming & Diving | So. | Kinesiology | |
| Jared Hiltzik | M Tennis | Jr. | Communication | |
| Melissa Kopinski | W Tennis | Sr. | Community Health | |
| Michael Hyc | M Track & Field | So. | Accountancy | |
| Aaron Wilks | M Track & Field | So. | Aerospace Engineering | |
| Jennifer DeBellis | W Track & Field | Jr. | Civil Engineering | |
| Amanda Duvendack | W Track & Field | Sr. | Biology | |
| Emma Grimes | W Track & Field | Sr. | Statistics | |
| Stephanie Richartz | W Track & Field | Sr. | Industrial Engineering | |
| Anna Dorn | Volleyball | Sr. | Kinesiology | |
| Liz McMahon | Volleyball | Sr. | Recreation, Sport & Tourism | |
| Allison Palmer | Volleyball | So. | Accountancy | |
| Kathryn Polkoff | Volleyball | Jr. | Animal Sciences | |
| Michelle Strizak | Volleyball | So. | Kinesiology | |
