Women's swimming head coach Jimmy Tierney's squad earned more Distinguished Scholar awards than any other varsity program in the Big Ten.Women's swimming head coach Jimmy Tierney's squad earned more Distinguished Scholar awards than any other varsity program in the Big Ten.

School-Record 52 Wildcats Named Big Ten Distinguished Scholars

July 14, 2011

EVANSTON, Ill. -- A school-record 52 Wildcats from 14 of Northwestern's varsity programs have been named Big Ten Distinguished Scholars, announced today (July 14) by the conference office.

The award, in its third 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, the new 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.

Most notably for Northwestern, the NU women's swimming and diving program had 14 of its members win the Big Ten Distinguished Scholar award, most of any team in any sport in the entire Big Ten Conference. In addition, the Northwestern football program had seven players earn the honor, most of any football team in the conference.

Northwestern's program-best number of Big Ten Distinguished Scholars comes on the heels of a school-record 201 Academic All-Big Ten awards earned by NU student-athletes in 2010-11.

The full list of 52 Wildcats -- which is 13 more than won the award last year -- is as follows:

Baseball (1)
Francis Brooke, Jr. • Political Science and International Studies (double major) • Washington, D.C.

Cross Country (5)
Rachel Edwards, Jr. • Biomedical Engineering • Eden Prairie, Minn.
Allegra Mayer, So. • Integrated Science • Palo Alto, Calif.
Annie Reihman, Sr. • Biological Sciences • Richmond, Ind.
Madeline Rozwat, Sr. • Communication Studies and Psychology (double major) • Hillsborough, Calif.
Molly Waterhouse, Jr. • Human Development and Psychological Services • Vicksburg, Mich.

Women's Fencing (3)
Emily Bruhl, So. • Undeclared • Fairfield, Conn.
Irisa Chen, Sr. • Political Science • Warren, N.J.
Devynn Patterson, Jr. • Learning and Organizational Change • Seattle, Wash.

Field Hockey (5)
Sherilyn DeStefano, So. • Undeclared • South Kingston, R.I.
Katie Lynch, Sr. • Human Communication Sciences • Briarcliff, N.Y.
Kaylee Pohlmeyer, Jr. • Communication Studies • Severna Park, Md.
Marnie Robbins, Sr. • Communication Studies • Milwaukee, Wis.
Kendra Sirak, Sr. • Anthropology and Psychology (double major) • Dallas, Pa.

Football (7)
Doug Bartels, Sr. • Anthropology (Pre-Med) • Caledonia, Ill.
John Henry Pace, Sr. • Mechanical Engineering • Hinsdale, Ill.
Dan Persa, Sr. • Communication Studies • Bethlehem, Pa.
Josh Rooks, Sr. • Psychology • Zeeland, Mich.
Patrick Ward, So. • Mechanical Engineering • Homer Glen, Ill.
Kevin Watt, Sr. • Learning and Organizational Change • Glen Ellyn, Ill.
Ricky Weina, Sr. • Economics • Union Grove, Wis.

Men's Golf (1)
Josh Dupont, Sr. • Economics • Poway, Calif.

Women's Golf (2)
Alex Lederhausen, Jr. • Psychology • Hinsdale, Ill.
Kelsey Lindenschmidt, Sr. • Chemical Engineering • West Chester, Ohio

Women's Lacrosse (3)
Brooke Matthews, Sr. • Communication Studies • Baltimore, Md.
Jessica Russo, Jr. • Learning and Organizational Change • Port Jefferson, N.Y.
Lacey Vigmostad, Jr. • Learning and Organizational Change • Northport, N.Y.

Women's Soccer (5)
Jennifer Baumann, Sr. • Communication Studies • Waukesha, Wis.
Sam Greene, Sr. • Learning and Organizational Change • Santa Monica, Calif.
Leigh Jakes, Gr. • Master's of Sports Administration • McDonough, Ga.
Emily Langston, Jr. • Communication Studies • Los Gatos, Calif.
Briana Westlund, So. • Human Development and Psychological Services • Cottage Grove, Minn.

Softball (1)
Kelly Quinn, Sr. • Materials Science and Engineering • Northbrook, Ill.

Women's Swimming and Diving (14)
Meghan Cavanaugh, Jr. • Environmental Sciences • Anchorage, Alaska
Carlin Dacey, Jr. • Radio/Television/Film • West Roxbury, Mass.
Liza Engstrom, Sr. • Religious Studies • Reno, Nev.
Jacquie Godbe, Jr. • Chemistry and Integrated Science (double major) • Rapid City, S.D.
Ellen Grigg, Sr. • English and History (double major) • Charlotte, N.C.
Shelby Johnson, Jr. • Biological Sciences • Wayzata, Minn.
Meredith King, So. • Undeclared • Louisville, Ky.
Alex Kraus, Sr. • Classics • Birmingham, Ala.
Beth Loe, Jr. • Industrial Engineering • Upper Arlington, Ohio
Kathleen Patterson, Jr. • Communication Studies • Naperville, Ill.
Erin Reilly, Sr. • Human Communication Sciences • Frankfort, Ill.
Taylor Reynolds, So. • Undeclared • St. Louis, Mo.
Kate Stephensen, Sr. • History • Davis, Calif.
Caroline Walls, Sr. • Political Science and Mathematical Methods for the Social Sciences (MMSS) • Tucson, Ariz.

Men's Tennis (3)
Joshua Graves, Jr. • Economics • Milwaukee, Wis.
Tobias Reitz, Jr. • Economics and Mathematics • Reinbeck, Germany
Eric Spector, Jr. • Economics • Northbrook, Ill.

Volleyball (1)
Elyse Glab, Sr. • Psychology • Chicago, Ill.

Wrestling (1)
Ben Kuhar, Sr. • Mechanical Engineering • Concord, Ohio

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