Wildcats Earn Academic All-Big Ten Accolades

3/23/2016 10:14:00 AM | General, Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball, Women's Swimming and Diving, Wrestling, Academic Services & Student Development

2015-15 Winter Academic All-Big Ten (PDF)

EVANSTON, Ill. – Forty-two Northwestern student-athletes in five winter sports have been named Academic All-Big Ten honorees, the Conference office announced today. Coupled with NU's conference-best 103 fall award winners, 145 Wildcats have earned academic all-conference accolades thus far in 2015-16.

"By every measure, Wildcats student-athletes continue to set the standard academically," said Jim Phillips, Northwestern vice-president for athletics and recreation. "Our coaching staffs have built a foundation by recruiting young men and women that possess not just the ability to be successful in the classroom, but the desire. The student-athletes' commitment to excellence in everything they do is a remarkable source of pride for our University community."

Northwestern's five eligible sports for the winter season are men's and women's basketball, men's and women's swimming and diving, and wrestling.

To earn Academic All-Big Ten recognition, an athlete must be in at least his/her second year at the institution, letter in his/her sport and have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better.

Following are Northwestern's 2016 winter season Academic All-Big Ten award winners:

Men's Basketball (3)
Tre Demps, Sr. • Communication Studies • Concord, Calif.
Sanjay Lumpkin, Sr. • Learning & Organizational Change • Wayzata, Minn.
Bryant McIntosh, So. • Undeclared • Greensburg, Ind.

Men's Swimming & Diving (12)
Charlie Cole, So. • Computer Science • Bernardsville, N.J.
Andrew Cramer, Jr. • Human Communication Sciences • Indianapolis, Ind.
Reed Dillon • Political Science • Indianapolis, Ind.
Van Donkersgoed, Sr. • Social Policy/Legal Studies • Eden Prairie, Minn.
Grant Halsall, Sr. • History/Legal Studies • Laxley, Isle of Man, GBR
Andy Jovanovic, Jr. • Classics and Philosophy • Chicago, Ill.
Gage Kohner, So. • Undeclared • Boca Raton, Fla.
Jonathan Lieberman, Jr. • Applied Mathematics • Eden Prairie, Minn.
Jack Morris, Jr. • Business Institutions/Political Science • Lansdale, Pa.
Almog Olshtein, So. • Business Institutions/International Studies • Haifa, Israel
Stephen Shull, Jr. • Mechanical Engineering • Evanston, Ill.
Alex Snarski, So. • Mechanical Engineering • Libertyville, Ill.

Women's Basketball (8)
Ashley Deary, Jr. • Economics • Flower Mound, Texas
Tessa Haldes, Sr. • Electrical Engineering • Chicago, Ill.
Christen Inman, Jr. • Economics • Katy, Texas
Christen Johnson, Sr. • Journalism/African-American Studies • Powder Springs, Ga.
Maya Jonas, So. • Undeclared • Whitefish Bay, Wis.
Nof Kedem, Sr. • Economics • Olesh, Israel
Maggie Lyon, Sr. • Communication Studies • Wilmette, Ill.
Lydia Rohde, So. • Undeclared • Brookfield, Wis.

Women's Swimming & Diving (13)
Lauren Abruzzo, Jr. • Philosophy • Denver, Colo.
Ellen Anderson, Sr. • Economics/Statistics • Montgomery Village, Md.
Julianne Kurke, Sr. • Biological Sciences • Atlanta, Ga.
Emily Launer, Sr. • Economics/Political Science • DeKalb, Ill.
Lacey Locke, Jr. • Human Development & Psychological Services • Carmel, Ind.
Aja Malone, So. • Anthropology/International Studies • Acworth, Ga.
Georgie Pettibone, Jr. • Economics • Santa Rosa, Calif.
Melissa Postoll, Jr. • Chemistry • Acworth, Ga.
Megan Purdy, Jr. • Biological Sciences • Boulder City, Nev.
Katherine Senseman, So. • Undeclared • Terre Haute, Ind.
Maddy Sims, So. • Journalism • Downers Grove, Ill.
Chelsea Soderholm, Sr. • Learning & Organizational Change • Madison, Wis.
Ellen Stello, Jr. • Learning & Organizational Change • Shorewood, Wis.

Wrestling (6)
Jacob Berkowitz, Jr. • Learning & Organizational Change/Business Institutions • Scarsdale, N.Y.
Bryce Brill, So. • Undeclared • Mt. Carmel, Ill.
Robert Coukos, Jr. • Biological Sciences/Chemistry/Integrated Science • Framingham, Mass.
Jacob Schmitt, So. • Psychology • Dewitt, Mich.
Mitch Sliga, So. • Economics/Business Institutions • Fishers, Ind.
Garrison White, Sr. • English/Business Institutions • Concord, N.C.

Northwestern student-athletes put together arguably their finest academic quarter ever during the fall of 2015, compiling record marks in the classroom across the board. The Wildcats overall student-athlete GPA was a 3.29 while the team average was a 3.32. Both of these are the highest on record for the department. All 19 programs had term GPAs above a 3.00.

Last fall was the 28^th-consecutive academic quarter that NU student-athletes have achieved an average GPA above a 3.00. Seventy-six percent hit that mark while 27 earned perfect 4.0 GPAs.

Last year Wildcats earned a school-record 228 Academic All-Big Ten awards, the fifth-straight year that NU student-athletes collected over 200 honors for work in the classroom. All told, approximately 65 percent of eligible NU student-athletes received Academic All-Big Ten recognition during the 2014-15 school year.

Additionally, a school-record 15 of 19 programs received NCAA Public Recognition Awards for placing in the top-10 percent of their respective sports in the latest multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR) data. A school-record twelve of NU's 19 teams received perfect APR scores of 1,000.

Northwestern also scored a 97 percent overall Graduation Success Rate (GSR) in the latest data released by the NCAA, a figure which leads the Big Ten by eight percentage points and ranks among the best scores nationally.