Dec. 11, 2013
Complete Fall 2013 Academic All-Big Ten honorees 
EVANSTON, Ill. -- For the first time in school history, Northwestern's fall student-athletes cracked the 100-award mark by earning a conference-best 104 Academic All-Big Ten honors across six sports, the B1G office announced today (Dec. 11).
The 104 awards eclipse NU's previous school-best total of 97 in 2011 and represents an incredible climb from 68 such honors in the fall of 2007, which at the time was NU's best-ever single-quarter Academic All-Big Ten performance.
Northwestern is the lone Big Ten school to earn over 100 Academic All-Big Ten awards this fall season, topping Indiana's 94 and Michigan State's 90. Both IU and MSU sponsor seven fall sports while NU fields six varsity squads.
NU football topped its own program record with 36 total honorees, besting its previous high of 34 earned in 2012. This season is the Wildcats' fourth-straight with more than 30 Academic All-Big Ten award winners. Northwestern again led the entire Big Ten Conference in football awards, besting Minnesota's impressive second-place total of 35 awards.
Many Wildcats who excelled on the field also are among Northwestern's Academic All-Big Ten award winners. Nikki Parsley (Milford, Del./Milford) and Tara Puffenberger (Dallas, Pa./Dallas) of field hockey both won Longstreth/NFHCA Division I All-America honors this season while volleyball senior Stephanie Holthus (Burlington, Ill./Central) is an AVCA All-Region selection with a strong chance at her second-career All-America nod later this month. Football's Jeff Budzien (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) was named the Big Ten Bakken-Anderson Kicker of the Year for the second-straight season. All four of men's soccer's NSCAA All-Region honorees also are Academic All-Big Ten award winners.
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.
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. This year's recipients will be honored prior to the fall of 2014 based on their GPAs from the 2012-13 academic year.
Following are Northwestern's 2013 fall season Academic All-Big Ten award winners:
Field Hockey (14)
Lauren Bernardi, So. Undeclared Pittston, Pa.
Maddy Carpenter, Jr. Anthropology Wilbraham, Mass.
Kelsey Gradwohl, So. Undeclared Ann Arbor, Mich.
Maria Kovalchuk, Sr. Classics Pittsburgh, Pa.
Charlotte Martin, So. Undeclared St. Louis, Mo.
Lisa McCarthy, So. Undeclared Dublin, Ireland
Nikki Parsley, Sr. Learning and Organizational Change Milford, Del.
Lena Phillips, So. Undeclared Bethlehem, Pa.
Tara Puffenberger, Sr. Sociology and Learning and Organizational Change (double major) Dallas, Pa.
Julia Retzky, Sr. Biological Sciences and Psychology (double major) Lake Forest, Ill.
Kelley Stump, So. Undeclared Allentown, Pa.
Kelsey Thompson, Sr. Psychology Ann Arbor, Mich.
Kirsten Ward, So. Undeclared Glen Ellyn, Ill.
Kristin Wirtz, Sr. Secondary Teaching Oak Park, Ill.
Football (36)
Hayden Baker, Sr. Anthropology Trout Valley, Ill.
Cermak Bland, Jr. Political Science West Linn, Ore.
Jeff Budzien, Gr. Sports Administration Hartland, Wis.
Ibraheim Campbell, Sr. Economics Philadelphia, Pa.
P.J. Carollo, Jr. Economics Lake Bluff, Ill.
Max Chapman, Jr. Economics Ponte Vedra, Fla.
Kain Colter, Sr. Psychology Denver, Colo.
Adam DePietro, So. Undeclared Lancaster, Pa.
Doug Diedrick, Jr. Economics Woodridge, Ill.
Collin Ellis, Sr. Learning and Organizational Change St. Gabriel, La.
Mike Eshun, Sr. Economics Madison, Wis.
Davion Fleming, Gr. Integrated Marketing and Communications Upland, Calif.
Matt Frazier, Jr. Learning and Organizational Change Bourbonnais, Ill.
Deonte Gibson, Jr. Communication Studies Lakewood, Ohio
Tim Hanrahan, Sr. Chemical Engineering Frankfort, Ill.
Pat Hickey, Gr. Sports Administration Chicago, Ill.
Tony Jones, Sr. Learning and Organizational Change Flint, Mich.
Paul Jorgensen, Sr. Economics DeWitt, Mich.
Connor Mahoney, So. Undeclared Malvern, Pa.
Sean McEvilly, Sr. Economics Yorba Linda, Calif.
Mike McHugh, So. Undeclared Kirkwood, Mo.
Shane Mertz, Jr. Economics Hazlet, N.J.
Geoff Mogus, Jr. Economics Lorain, Ohio
Zack Oliver, Jr. Communication Studies and Learning and Organizational Change (double major) Baton Rouge, La.
Eric Olson, So. Learning and Organizational Change Sudbury, Mass.
Arthur Omilian, Jr. Industrial Engineering Atlanta, Ga.
Ian Park, So. Undeclared Pittsburgh, Pa.
Tyler Scott, Sr. Learning and Organizational Change Warren, Ohio
Trevor Siemian, Sr. Communication Studies Windermere, Fla.
Mark Szott, Jr. Communication Studies Naperville, Ill.
Mike Trumpy, Gr. Sports Administration Wheaton, Ill.
Nick VanHoose, Jr. Sociology and Communication Studies (double major) Urbana, Ohio
Timmy Vernon, Gr. Liberal Studies Fort Washington, Pa.
Brandon Vitabile, Sr. Economics Edison, N.J.
Dan Vitale, So. Undeclared Wheaton, Ill.
Brandon Williams, Gr. Engineering Design Innovation Nappanee, Ind.
Women's Cross Country (16)
Mallory Abel, So. Communication Studies St. Charles, Ill.
Jessie Baloga, So. Environmental Engineering Grand Rapids, Mich.
Elena Barham, So. Undeclared Madison, Wis.
Camille Blackman, So. Undeclared Longmeadow, Mass.
Julia Buford, Sr. Civil Engineering Chicago, Ill.
Elizabeth Fierro, Jr. Biological Sciences Northport, N.Y.
Erica Grubbs, So. History Davenport, Iowa
Allison Jacobsen, So. Undeclared Carmel, Ind.
Libby Kocha, Sr. Applied Mathematics Burlington, Wis.
Allison Naval, So. Psychology Southlake, Texas
Megan O'Brien, So. Journalism Homer Glen, Ill.
Nicole Oliver, Sr. Biomedical Engineering Pottstown, Pa.
Ann Powers, Sr. Sociology New York, N.Y.
Charlotte ter Haar, Sr. Biomedical Engineering Davis, Calif.
Rachel Weathered, So. Biomedical Engineering Naperville, Ill.
Renee Wellman, So. Social Policy Carmel, Ind.
Men's Soccer (15)
Zak Allen, So. Computer Science Chicago, Ill.
Peter Beasley, Jr. Economics Naperville, Ill.
Nikko Boxall, Jr. Economics Auckland, New Zealand
Joey Calistri, So. Undeclared Deerfield, Ill.
Brendan Gruenwald-Schmitz, Jr. Mechanical Engineering Burlington, Wis.
Henry Herrill, So. Undeclared Altadena, Calif.
Connor Holloway, Sr. History Deerfield, Ill.
Peter Horner, Jr. Economics Brookfield, Wis.
Connor Jacobson, Jr. Economics Avon, Conn.
Scott Lakin, Sr. Economics Deerfield, Ill.
Mick Maley, So. Undeclared South Elgin, Ill.
Tyler Miller, Jr. Communication Studies Woodbury, N.J.
Chris Ritter, Gr. Communication Studies Winnetka, Ill.
Jeff Rogers, Sr. Communication Studies Birmingham, Mich.
Grant Wilson, Jr. Economics Kansas City, Mo.
Women's Soccer (18)
Kate Allen, Sr. Communication Studies Whitehouse, Ohio
Jackie Alyinovich, Jr. Human Communication Sciences Burr Ridge, Ill.
KK Barr, Jr. Anthropology St. Charles, Ill.
Rachel Bergman, So. Undeclared West Bloomfield, Mich.
Briana Borsellino, Jr. Communication Studies Oak Brook, Ill.
Natalie Cikos, So. Undeclared Massapequa Park, N.Y.
Katie Gancedo, Jr. Social Policy Altadena, Calif.
Sam Hatfield, Sr. Mechanical Engineering Crossfield, Alberta
Ali Herman, Jr. Journalism Villanova, Pa.
Nicole Jewell, Sr. Industrial Engineering Raleigh, N.C.
Jennifer Korn, So. Industrial Engineering Naperville, Ill.
Natalie Lagunas, Sr. English Canyon Country, Calif.
Katie Landgrebe, Jr. Journalism Madeira, Ohio
Suzanne Malherbe, So. Undeclared Temecula, Calif.
Nandi Mehta, So. Undeclared Lexington, Mass.
Bo Podkopacz, Sr. Learning and Organizational Change Plymouth, Minn.
Sami Schrakamp, Jr. Communication Studies Danville, Calif.
Julie Sierks, Sr. Industrial Engineering Edina, Minn.
Women's Volleyball (5)
Katie Dutchman, Sr. Biological Sciences Del Mar, Calif.
Stephanie Holthus, Sr. Secondary Teaching Burlington, Ill.
Abbie Kraus, So. Journalism Birmingham, Ala.
Monica McGreal, Jr. Industrial Engineering Louisville, Ky.
Savannah Paffen, Jr. Biological Sciences Mountain View, Calif.
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