Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Names Big Ten Medal of Honor Finalists
6/11/2015 5:08:00β―PM | Field Hockey
The Wildcats' male and female winners of the conference most prestigious award will be announced June 18
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern today named six finalists -- three male and three female -- for the 2015 Big Ten Medal of Honor, the most prestigious and exclusive award given by the conference each year to two student-athletes from each member institution.
The three male finalists for this year's honor are Mike McMullan of wrestling, Tyler Miller of men's soccer and Brandon Vitabile of football. The three female finalists are Maddy Carpenter of field hockey, Katie Dutchman of volleyball and Julia Kuhn of softball.
The two winners will be revealed Thursday, June 18, at the annual N Club Induction and Senior Recognition Banquet at the Hilton Orrington Hotel in Evanston.
The Big Ten Medal of Honor -- the first award of its kind in intercollegiate athletics to recognize academic and athletic excellence -- was first awarded in 1915 to one student-athlete from the graduating class of each university who had "attained the greatest proficiency in athletics and scholastic work." Big Ten schools currently feature almost 9,500 student-athletes, but only 28 earn this prestigious award on an annual basis. In the 100 years of the Medal of Honor, close to 1,400 student-athletes have earned this distinction.
Last year, the Big Ten Medal of Honor turned 100-years-old with Marisa Bast of softball and Raleigh Smith of men's tennis taking home the recognition for Northwestern. To celebrate the next century of the award, NU has begun to name the finalists considered for the honor. Read on to get to know the accomplishments of each of these deserving student-athletes.
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Maddy Carpetner's four-year run as the starting goalkeeper for the Northwestern field hockey team has coincided with the most success the program has experienced in decades. A first-team All-Big Ten selection as a senior this past fall, Carpenter helped lead the Wildcats to a Big Ten title for the second straight year. She was recognized as the Most Outstanding Player of the Big Ten tournament after leading the Wildcats to their first conference tournament title in school history and a second victory of the season over second-ranked Maryland.
Twice in 2014, Carpenter was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week and her efforts helped the Wildcats to their first NCAA tournament appearance in 20 years. A three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection, Carpenter is graduating with a degree in anthropology, and will serve as an assistant coach at Dartmouth next season.
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Katie Duchman
After redshirting during her first year on campus, volleyball standout Katie Dutchman was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team in 2011 and never looked back. Following her final season in the fall, the middle blocker became only the sixth Wildcat under head coach Keylor Chan to earn All-America recognition when she received an honorable mention nod. Dutchman's 2014 attacking percentage of .347 stood out as the second-best single-season mark in Wildcats history.
A two-year captain, she also finished her collegiate playing career ranked fourth all-time in hitting percentage at Northwestern. After graduating last year with a degree in biological sciences, she received a certificate in the School of Professional Studies with a concentration in business studies. She most recently played professionally in Peru with fellow NU alums Sabel Moffett and Stephanie Holthus.
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Julia Kuhn
Julia Kuhn is a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree and likely three-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar who will graduate in June with a degree in human communication sciences, a minor in French and a certificate in Integrated Marketing Communications. The Middletown, New Jersey, native plans to enroll at New York University, where she will pursue a Master of Science in speech language pathology.
After serving mostly as a defensive specialist during her career, Kuhn had an outstanding senior year with a .321 average, 11 doubles, six home runs and 37 RBIs -- more than doubling her career totals in those categories to earn NFCA All-Region honors.
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Mike McMullan
Mike McMullan concluded his Northwestern career as the 2015 Big Ten Heavyweight champion and just the third four-time All-American in school history. He finished in the Top 3 in the nation every year, reaching the NCAA finals as a sophomore in 2013 while winning the third-place match in each of his other three seasons, including in 2015.
McMullan's 103-23 career record gives him an .817 career winning percentage, good for ninth in program history. An Academic All-Big Ten honoree in 2015, McMullan graduated with degrees in both journalism and political science, and will be going on to law school.
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Tyler Miller
Tyler Miller capped an outstanding Northwestern career by leading the Big Ten in goals against average, save percentage and shutouts in 2014 en route to earning an All-America award and being named the unanimous choice for Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year. The career shutouts record holder for the Wildcats, Miller was a first-team All-Big Ten selection in 2011, 2012 and 2014.
He earned three Academic All-Big Ten awards and was named the first NSCAA Scholar All-American in school history this year. Drafted by the Seattle Sounders in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft, Miller now plays professionally in Germany.
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Brandon Vitabile
During his tenure in Evanston, Brandon Vitabile was a standout both on the gridiron and in the classroom. The Edison, New Jersey, native made his first career start at center for Northwestern on September 3, 2011, and he would go on to start the next 49 games as well. Vitabile served as a team captain in 2012 and 2013, and in both of those seasons, he garnered All-Big Ten honorable mention accolades.
In addition to being a candidate for the Rimington Trophy, which goes to the nationΒΉs most outstanding center, Vitabile was one of only 17 2014 National Football Foundation National Scholar-Athlete award recipients. That qualified Vitabile as a finalist for the prestigious William V. Campbell trophy, which is regarded as the "Academic Heisman." Vitabile is a four-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree and a three-time Big Ten Distinguished scholar, an award given to those with a grade-point average of 3.7 or above.
Vitabile, who graduated with a degree in economics in 2014, is currently pursuing a career in the National Football League with the Indianapolis Colts.
