March 28, 2012

Official Big Ten Release

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern student-athletes have earned 43 Academic All-Big Ten honors in five winter sports, the Big Ten Conference announced today (March 28). Together with the school-record 97 accolades won in the fall quarter, 140 Wildcats have been named Academic All-Big Ten during the 2011-12 academic year. This is an eight award increase over NU's record-breaking total at this time a year ago.

Northwestern-sponsored sports honored by the Big Ten during the winter season are: men's and women's basketball, men's and women's swimming and wrestling. NU's women's fencing squad will earn its awards during the spring at-large period. Of note this quarter is the Wildcat women's swimming team, which had their third-straight year with 20 or more award winners.

Senior women's swimmer Sheila O'Neill (Dunwoody, Ga./Marist School) deserves a special mention after winning her second Academic All-Big Ten award of the current school year. In addition to her four years on the swimming and diving team, O'Neill also joined the NU cross country squad this year, competing in several races and earning the conference's academic laurel for the cross country 'Cats, as well.

Junior men's basketball standout Drew Crawford (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) was named Academic All-Big Ten in addition to previously winning Capital One Academic All-America recognition from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

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

Instituted beginning in 2008-09, the conference office also will hand out the Distinguished Scholar Award at the end of the academic year. Student-athletes eligible for the Distinguished Scholar Award must be letter winners in at least their second year in residence at their institution. Qualifying student-athletes must have earned a GPA of 3.7 or higher for the current academic year, excluding summer school. The 3.7 GPA benchmark was designed to include the top 10 percent of all eligible student-athletes.

The Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award was established by conference Faculty Representatives as an addition to the conference's Academic All-Big Ten program. The recipients will be honored prior to the fall of 2012 based on their GPAs from the 2011-12 academic year.

Following are Northwestern's 2012 winter season Academic All-Big Ten award winners:

Men's Basketball (5)
Drew Crawford, Jr. • Economics • Naperville, Ill.
Davide Curletti, Sr. • Radio/Television/Film • Farmington Hills, Mich.
Nick Fruendt, Sr. • Economics • Batavia, Ill.
Reggie Hearn, Jr. • Psychology • Fort Wayne, Ind.
Luka Mirkovic, Sr. • Communication Studies • Belgrade, Serbia

Women's Basketball (5)
Kendall Hackney, Jr. • Communication Studies • Cincinnati, Ohio
Meghan McKeown, So. • Journalism • Glencoe, Ill.
Allison Mocchi, Sr. • Learning and Organizational Change • Wheeling, Ill.
Brittany Orban, Sr. • Mechanical Engineering • North Canton, Ohio
Kate Popovec, Jr. • Communication Studies • Canfield, Ohio

Men's Swimming and Diving (8)
John Frutiger, Sr. • Environmental Sciences • Alma, Mich.
Brien Gerber, So. • Mechanical Engineering • Naperville, Ill.
Jake Grosser, Gr. • Masters of Sports Administration • St. Charles, Ill.
Tanner Nemkov, So. • Journalism • Littleton, Colo.
Nick Pinkerton, So. • Chemical Engineering • Hudson, Ohio
Charlie Rimkus, Jr. • Political Science • Tustin, Calif.
Tim Smith, So. • Civil Engineering • Oakland, Calif.
Chase Stephens, So. • Undeclared • Madison, Wis.

Women's Swimming and Diving (20)
Mary Kate Campbell, So. • Undeclared • Burr Ridge, Ill.
Meghan Cavanaugh, Sr. • Political Science and Environmental Science (double major) • Anchorage, Alaska
Meaghan Fenn, Jr. • Human Communication Sciences • New Rochelle, N.Y.
Fallon Fitzpatrick, So. • Communication Studies • Delray Beach, Fla.
Jacquie Godbe, Sr. • Integrated Science Program and Chemistry (double major) • Rapid City, S.D.
Megan Goss, So. • Psychology • Brentwood, Tenn.
Marybeth Hall, Jr. • Biological Sciences • Brighton, Mich.
Shelby Johnson, Sr. • Biological Sciences • Wayzata, Minn.
Meredith King, Jr. • Statistics • Louisville, Ky.
Cosima Lenz, So. • Undeclared • Altadena, Calif.
Felicitas Lenz, Jr. • German • Altadena, Calif.
Beth Loe, Sr. • Industrial Engineering • Upper Arlington, Ohio
Katie McCullough, Jr. • Statistics • Grand Rapids, Mich.
Sheila O'Neill, Sr. • Mechanical Engineering • Dunwoody, Ga.
Kathleen Patterson, Sr. • Communication Studies • Naperville, Ill.
Jackie Powell, So. • Undeclared • Madison, Wis.
Taylor Reynolds, Jr. • English • St. Louis, Mo.
Becca Soderholm, So. • Undeclared • Madison, Wis.
Erin Sosdian, So. • Undeclared • The Woodlands, Texas
Jenny Wilson, Sr. • Journalism • Bethesda, Md.

Wrestling (5)
John Coukos, So. • Biomedical Engineering • Framingham, Mass.
Pat Greco, So. • Undeclared • St. Charles, Ill.
Pierce Harger, So. • Industrial Engineering • Loveland, Ohio
Ben Kuhar, Gr. • Mechanical Engineering • Concord Township, Ohio
Levi Mele, Jr. • Social Policy • Vernal, Utah

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