March 27, 2013
Official Conference Academic All-B1G Release 
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern student-athletes have earned 41 Academic All-Big Ten honors in five winter sports, the Big Ten Conference announced today (March 27). Together with the 97 accolades won during the fall quarter, 138 Wildcats have been named Academic All-Big Ten during the 2012-13 academic year.
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.
Combining the best in athletics and academics, Wildcats like Reggie Hearn (men's basketball), Kendall Hackney (women's basketball) and Taylor Reynolds (women's swimming and diving) earned All-Big Ten status in addition to their Academic All-Big Ten honors. Reynolds, Chase Stephens of men's swimming and diving and Pierce Harger of wrestling all qualified for their sports' respective NCAA Championships.
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 2013 based on their GPAs from the 2012-13 academic year.
Following are Northwestern's 2013 winter season Academic All-Big Ten award winners:
Men's Basketball (5)
Nikola Cerina, Sr. History Topola Oplenac, Serbia
Drew Crawford, Sr. Economics Naperville, Ill.
Reggie Hearn, Sr. Psychology Fort Wayne, Ind.
Omar Jimenez, So. Journalism Kennessaw, Ga.
Dave Sobolewski, So. Economics Naperville, Ill.
Men's Swimming and Diving (12)
Uula Auren, So. Political Science Helsinki, Finland
Brien Gerber, Jr. Mechanical Engineering Naperville, Ill.
Matthew Margritier, So. Undeclared Leawood, Kan.
Nick Pinkerton, Jr. Chemical Engineering Hudson, Ohio
Charlie Rimkus, Sr. Political Science Tustin, Calif.
William Rosler, So. Undeclared Bexley, Ohio
Andrew Seitz, So. Materials Science and Engineering Pleasanton, Calif.
Varun Shivakumar, Sr. Economics Hoffman Estates, Ill.
Tim Smith, Jr. Civil Engineering Oakland, Calif.
Chase Stephens, Jr. Economics Madison, Wis.
Toni Valcic, Sr. Political Science Ribnica, Slovenia
Matt Wilcox, Jr. Mechanical Engineering Bemidji, Minn.
Women's Basketball (5)
Kendall Hackney, Sr. Communication Studies Cincinnati, Ohio
Meghan McKeown, Jr. Journalism Glencoe, Ill.
Kate Popovec, Gr. Sports Administration Canfield, Ohio
Karly Roser, So. Cognitive Science Hamilton, Ontario
La'Terria Taylor, Jr. Learning and Organizational Change Chicago, Ill.
Women's Swimming and Diving (15)
Mary Kate Campbell, Jr. Journalism Burr Ridge, Ill.
Meaghan Fenn, Sr. Human Communication Sciences New Rochelle, N.Y.
Fallon Fitzpatrick, Jr. Human Communication Sciences Delray Beach, Fla.
Megan Goss, Jr. Psychology Brentwood, Tenn.
Marybeth Hall, Sr. Biological Sciences Brighton, Mich.
Meredith King, Sr. Statistics Louisville, Ky.
Madeleine Klichowski, So. Mechanical Engineering Chicago, Ill.
Cosima Lenz, Jr. German Altadena, Calif.
Felicitas Lenz, Sr. German Altadena, Calif.
Katie McCullough, Sr. Statistics Grand Rapids, Mich.
Valerie Nubbe, So. Environmental Sciences Huntsville, Ala.
Jackie Powell, Jr. Social Policy Madison, Wis.
Taylor Reynolds, Sr. English St. Louis, Mo.
Becca Soderholm, Jr. Sociology Madison, Wis.
Erin Sosdian, Jr. Mechanical Engineering The Woodlands, Texas
Wrestling (4)
John Coukos, So. Integrated Science Program (ISP) and Mathematics (double major) Framingham, Mass.
Pat Greco, Jr. Political Science St. Charles, Ill.
Pierce Harger, Jr. Industrial Engineering Loveland, Ohio
Levi Mele, Sr. Social Policy Vernal, Utah
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