EVANSTON, Ill. – A school-record 82 Northwestern student-athletes from 14 different varsity programs have earned prestigious Big Ten Distinguished Scholar recognition, the conference announced Wednesday.
 
The award, in its eighth year of existence, was established by the Big Ten Faculty Representatives 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, this 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 their academic career. In 2015-16, Northwestern earned a school-record 232 total Academic All-Big Ten honors to put it over the 200 mark for the sixth consecutive year.
 
This year's total of 82 Distinguished Scholar recipients easily establishes a new Northwestern high, topping the previous school best of 57 honorees during the 2013-14 academic year.
 
"Our student-athletes have had an exemplary year in the classroom, capped by these school-record 80 individuals earning Big Ten Distinguished Scholar distinction," Northwestern vice president for athletics and recreation Jim Phillips said. "All told, a school-record 232 Academic All-Big Ten honorees, an overall GPA of 3.32, 12 NCAA Academic Progress Rate Public Recognition awards and a Big Ten-leading 97 percent Graduation Success Rate combined to make 2015-16 a tremendous year and shows the commitment of our student-athletes, coaches and staff to the complete collegiate experience.
 
"The entire Northwestern community is extremely proud of all their accomplishments and efforts."
 
Six Wildcats -- fencing's Julia Abelsky, Mikela Goldstein, Lucia Procopio and Jen Yamin, women's soccer's Nandi Mehta, and volleyball's Kayla Morin -- received special recognition for earning perfect 4.0 GPAs over the past year.
 
Following are Northwestern's 2015-16 Big Ten Distinguished Scholar recipients:

Baseball (3)
Reed Mason, Sr. • Industrial Engineering    
Jake Schieber, Sr. • Communication Studies           
Cooper Wetherbee, Jr. • Economics and Environmental Sciences (double major)
 
Women's Basketball (1)
Maggie Lyon, Sr. • Communication Studies
 
Cross Country (6)
Elena Barham, Sr. • Political Science and Philosophy (double major)  
Erica Grubbs, Sr. • History and International Studies (double major)
Allison Jacobsen, Sr. • Economics 
Ellen Schmitz, Jr. • Journalism     
Rachel Weathered, Sr. • Biomedical Engineering      
Renee Wellman, Sr. • Social Policy           
 
Fencing (10)
Julia Abelsky, Jr. • Statistics     
Juliana Barrett, Sr. • Political Science        
Mandeep Bhinder, Jr. • Learning and Organizational Change  
Courtney Dumas, Sr. • History     
Mikela Goldstein, Sr. • Learning and Organizational Change      
Cindy Oh, Jr. • Political Science   
Stella Pointeau, Jr. • Statistics and Political Science (double major)    
Lucia Procopio, So. • Anthropology       
Katie Van Riper, So. • History      
Jen Yamin, Sr. • Communication Studies           
 
Field Hockey (9)
Juliet Beatty, Jr. • Communication Studies 
Lauren Bernardi, Sr. • Psychology 
Isabel Flens, Jr. • Communication Studies  
Kelsey Gradwohl, Sr. • Psychology           
Charlotte Martin, Sr. • Psychology
Pascale Massey, So. • Communication Studies        
Lena Phillips, Sr. • Communication Studies           
Kelley Stump, Sr. • Journalism     
Lindsay von der Luft, Jr. • Communication Studies  
 
Football (8)
Terrance Brown, Sr. • Learning and Organizational Change and Sociology (double major)           
Max Chapman, Gr. • Sports Administration
Tommy Doles, So. • Political Science
Matt Frazier, Gr. • Sports Administration   
Traveon Henry, Sr. • Learning and Organizational Change     
Shane Mertz, Sr. • Post Baccalaureate         
Geoff Mogus, Sr. • Post Baccalaureate        
Heath Reineke, So. • Computer Science      
 
Women's Golf (2)
Kacie Komoto, Jr. • Communications Studies         
Suchaya Tangkamolprasert, Sr. • Economics           
 
Lacrosse (11)
Lydia Cassada, Jr. • Communication Studies           
Kaleigh Craig, Sr. • Communication Studies           
Jasmine Docal, Jr. • Human Development and Psychological Services  
Nancy Dunbar, Sr. • Psychology   
Emily Eichner, Sr. • Post Baccalaureate      
Lyndsey Lafitte, So. • Neuroscience           
Ally Mueller, So. • Political Science          
Lauren Murray, Sr. • Learning and Organizational Change      
Shannon Nesselbush, So. • Industrial Engineering    
Sheila Nesselbush, Jr. • Industrial Engineering         
Corinne Wessels, So. • Human Development and Psychological Services         
 
Men's Soccer (3)
Nathan Dearth, Jr. • Communication Studies           
Sam Forsgren, So. • Legal Studies
Mick Maley, Sr. • Learning and Organizational Change         
 
Women's Soccer (9)
Rachel Bergman, Sr. • Anthropology         
Natalie Cikos, Sr. • Economics     
Maria Grygleski, Jr. • Communication Studies        
Jennifer Korn, Sr. • Mechanical Engineering
Suzanne Malherbe, Sr. • Psychology          
Nandi Mehta, Sr. • Economics and International Business (double major)
Kaitlin Moore, Jr. • Economics     
Niki Sebo, Gr. • Speech Language and Learning       
Rachel Zampa, Jr. • Communication Studies           
 
Softball (6)
Andrea Filler, Gr. • Sports Administration  
Brianna LeBeau, Sr. • Communication Studies        
Amy Letourneau, Gr. • Finance     
Anna Petersen, Jr. • Mechanical Engineering
Fran Strub, Sr. • Human Development and Psychological Services      
Krista Williams, Jr. • Economics  
 
Men's Swimming & Diving (1)
Stephen Shull, Jr. • Mechanical Engineering
 
Women's Swimming & Diving (7)
Lauren Abruzzo, Jr. • Philosophy  
Ellen Anderson, Sr. • Economics and Statistics (double major)           
Lacey Locke, Jr. • Human Development and Psychological Services 
Megan Purdy, So. • Biological Sciences   
Katherine Senseman, So. • Statistics          
Ellen Stello, Jr. • Learning and Organizational Change          
Annika Winsnes, Jr. • Biological Sciences  
 
Volleyball (6)
Katie Kniep, So. • Communication Studies 
Kayla Morin, Jr. • Economics and Political Science (double major)          
Caroline Niedospial, Gr. • Sports Administration     
Caleigh Ryan, Jr. • Journalism      
Maddie Slater, Jr. • Learning and Organizational Change       
Taylor Tashima, So. • Economics 
 
Note: Recipients in bold received special recognition for posting a perfect 4.0 GPA during the 2015-16 academic year.
 
 

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