Dec. 18, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; December 18, 2012 - A school record 100 Penn State student-athletes, representing seven fall sports, have been honored with Academic All-Big Ten awards for achievement in the classroom. The 100 honorees brings Penn State's all-time total to 4,124 in the 20th year of the program.
Penn State's 100 honorees led all conference schools. Northwestern was second with 94. The Nittany Lions' 100 honorees shattered the previous school record of 81 for the fall sports teams, set in 2007.
Among Penn State teams, the men's cross country team was tops among all conference schools with nine Academic All-Big Ten honorees, the field hockey team was first with 16 and the Nittany Lion men's soccer team was second with 12. The Penn State football team was tied for third with a program record 28 honorees and the women's volleyball team was third with eight.
Three of Penn State's fall honorees own cumulative 4.0 grade-point averages: John Urschel (football; Williamsville, N.Y.), Katie Rodden (women's cross country; Ardmore, Pa.) and Maggie Harding (women's volleyball; State College, Pa.). Harding was the recipient of the Elite 89 Award at last week's NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship.
Urschel and defensive end Pete Massaro (Newtown Square) were selected first-team Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-American and men's soccer's Julian Cardona (Lincoln, Neb.) received third-team recognition.
The academic laurels follow on the heels of an extremely successful fall campaign, as Penn State won five Big Ten championships and had five coaches selected conference coach of the year. The field hockey team (Coach Char Morett) won the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles and the men's soccer (Bob Warming), women's soccer (Erica Walsh) and women's volleyball (Russ Rose) teams all won Big Ten championships. In addition to the above coaches, Penn State first-year football coach Bill O'Brien also was selected Big Ten Coach of the Year.
The Big Ten Conference recognized a total of 816 fall sports student-athletes who were named to the Academic All-Conference team. To be eligible for Academic All-Big Ten selection, student-athletes must be letter winners who are in at least their second academic year at their institution and carry a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher. The Conference also awards Academic All-Big Ten distinction in the winter and spring seasons and will present the Distinguished Scholar Award at the end of the academic year.
Listed below are Penn State's 2012 Fall Academic All-Big Ten honorees by sport.
Field Hockey (16):
Annie Abdo, Penn State Jr. Biobehavioral Health Langhorne, Pa.
Hannah Allison, Penn State Sr. Kinesiology Mifflinburg, Pa.
Kelsey Amy, Penn State Sr. Art Sweet Valley, Pa.
Katie Andrews, Penn State So. Agriculture Lancaster, Pa.
Katie Breneman, Penn State So. Health & Human Development Washington Boro, Pa.
Natalie Buttinger, Penn State Jr. Advertising And Public Relations Waterloo, Ontario
Amanda Dinunzio, Penn State So. Education State College, Pa.
Abby Fuhrman, Penn State Jr. Recreation, Park And Tourism Management Bainbridge, Pa.
Laura Gebhart, Penn State So. Community, Environment And Development Mount Joy, Pa.
Brittany Grzywacz, Penn State Jr. Recreation, Park And Tourism Management State College, Pa.
Ayla Halus, Penn State Sr. Biology Hershey, Pa.
Taylor Herold, Penn State So. Health And Human Development Fredericksburg, Va.
Jacqueline Kenney, Penn State Jr. Advertising And Public Relations State College, Pa.
Ashtin Klingler, Penn State Jr. Kinesiology Selinsgrove, Pa.
Lauren Purvis, Penn State Jr. Kinesiology Maple Glen, Pa.
Whitney Reddig, Penn State Jr. Rehabilitation And Human Services Lititz, Pa.
Football (28):
Brad Bars, Penn State Jr. Finance Nashville, Tenn.
Kyle Baublitz, Penn State Jr. Secondary Education York, Pa.
Glenn Carson, Penn State Jr. Advertising & Public Relations Manahawkin, N.J.
Kyle Carter, Penn State So. Health & Human Development Newark, Del.
Cody Castor, Penn State Sr. Kinesiology Uniontown, Pa.
Jesse Della Valle, Penn State Jr. Advertising & Public Relations Pittsburgh, Pa.
Miles Dieffenbach, Penn State Jr. Advertising & Public Relations Pittsburgh, Pa.
Emery Etter, Penn State Sr. Aerospace Engineering Chambersburg, Pa.
Mike Farrell, Penn State Sr. Secondary Education Pittsburgh, Pa.
Sam Ficken, Penn State So. Business Valparaiso, Ind.
Garry Gilliam, Penn State Sr. Management Carlisle, Pa.
Ty Howle, Penn State Sr. Health Policy And Administration Wake Forest, N.C.
Mike Hull, Penn State Jr. Finance Canonsburg, Pa.
Brian Irvin, Penn State Sr. Crime, Law And Justice Orrtanna, Pa.
Ryan Keiser, Penn State Jr. Kinesiology Selinsgrove, Pa.
Alex Kenney, Penn State Jr. Communication, Arts And Sciences State College, Pa.
Ben Kline, Penn State So. Division Of Undergraduate Education York, Pa.
Christian Kuntz, Penn State Sr. Marketing Camp Hill, Pa.
Matt Lehman, Penn State Sr. Kinesiology Newport, Pa.
Evan Lewis, Penn State Gr. Undeclared Gettysburg, Pa.
Angelo Mangiro, Penn State So. Liberal Arts Succassunna, N.J.
Pete Massaro, Penn State Sr. Economics Newtown Square, Pa.
Shane McGregor, Penn State Sr. Journalism Ebensburg, Pa.
Matt Stankiewitch, Penn State Sr. Management Orwigsburg, Pa.
Deron thompson, Penn State So. Energy, Business and Finance Litiz, Pa.
John Urschel, Penn State Sr. Mathematics, Williamsville, N.Y.
Jamie Van Fleet, Penn State Sr. Landscape Contracting Williamsport, Pa.
Garrett Venuto, Penn State Sr. Risk Management Ithaca, N.Y.
Men's Cross Country (9):
Colin Baker, Penn State Jr. Economics Haddonfield, N.J.
Ryan Brennan, Penn State So. Division Of Undergraduate Studies Chester, N.Y.
Glen Burkhardt, Penn State So. Engineering Kennett Square, Pa.
Tyler Corkedale, Penn State Sr. Finance West Windsor, N.J.
Robert Creese, Penn State So. Engineering Mount Airy, Md.
Matt Fischer, Penn State Jr. Marketing Kennett Square, Pa.
Mark Fuller, Penn State Sr. Supply Chain & Information Systems Camp Hill, Pa.
Thomas Luff, Penn State Sr. Environmental Systems Engineering Emmaus, Pa.
Nick Scarpello, Penn State Jr. Advertising & Public Relations Jamison, Pa.
Women's Cross Country (14):
Leigha Anderson, Penn State So. Liberal Arts Carlisle, Pa.
Abbie Benson, Penn State So. Health & Human Development Elma, N.Y.
Natalie Bower, Penn State Sr. Kinesiology Pleasant Unity, Pa.
Rachel Casciano, Penn State So. Communications Wyomissing, Pa.
Kalyn Fisher, Penn State Jr. Childhood And Early Adolescent Education Lewisburg, Pa.
Emily Giannotti, Penn State Jr. Rehabilitation And Human Services Coudersport, Pa.
Lindsey Graybill, Penn State Sr. Elementary Education Macungie, Pa.
Kerrin Jennings, Penn State So. Division Of Undergraduate Education Glen Mills, Pa.
Marta Klebe, Penn State Jr. Supply Chain & Information Systems Chesterbrook, Pa.
Danielle Kocjancic, Penn State Jr. Communication Sciences And Disorders Kane, Pa.
Lauren Mills, Penn State So. Nutrition West Chester, Pa.
Victoria Perri, Penn State Jr. Advertising & Public Relations Philadelphia, Pa.
Katie Rodden, Penn State So. Health & Human Development Ardmore, Pa.
Colleen Shannon, Penn State Sr. Kinesiology Andover, Mass.
Men's Soccer (12):
Jacob Barron, Penn State Sr. Kinesiology La Mirada, Calif.
Julian Cardona, Penn State Sr. Agribusiness Management Lincoln, Neb.
Micah Collins, Penn State Sr. Engineering Science Glen Rock, pa.
Brian Forgue, Penn State Sr. Crime, Law And Justice Glenmoore, Pa.
Owen Griffith, Penn State So. Health & Human Development Lewisburg, Pa.
Marvin Ledgister, Penn State Sr. Economics London, England
Kyle MacDonald, Penn State So. Engineering Yardley, Pa.
Emmanuel Martin, Penn State So. Division Of Undergraduate Studies Cormontreuil, France
Daniel Parr, Penn State Sr. Economics Hummelstown, pa.
Daniel Sheerin, Penn State So. Division Of Undergraduate Studies College Park, Md.
Thomas Warming, Penn State Sr. Economics Port Matilda, Neb.
Andrew Wolverton, Penn State So. Division Of Undergraduate Studies Atlanta, Ga.
Women's Soccer (13):
Tara Barr, Penn State Jr. Kinesiology North Wales, Pa.
Kori Chapic, Penn State So. Architectural Engineering Novelty, Ohio
Amanda Dotten, Penn State Sr. Environmental Systems Engineering Anchorage, Alaska
Britt Eckerstrom, Penn State So. Science Boyds, Md.
Madelyn Evans, Penn State Sr. Secondary Education Glenside, Pa.
Brianna Garcia, Penn State Gr. Kinesiology Babylon, N.Y.
Maya Hayes, Penn State Jr. Kinesiology West Orange, N.J.
Emily Hurd, Penn State Jr. Communication Arts And Sciences Sammamish, Wash.
Erin Kehoe, Penn State Jr. Communication Arts And Sciences Crystal Lake, Ill.
Kindrah Kohne, Penn State So. Division Of Undergraduate Studies Fayetteville, N.Y.
Erin McNulty, Penn State Gr. Higher Education Winnipeg, Manitoba
Christine Nairn, Penn State Sr. Communication Arts And Sciences Arnold, Md.
Taylor Schram, Penn State Jr. Psychology Canonsburg, Pa.
Women's Volleyball (8):
Erica Denney, Penn State Jr. Animal Science Centennial, Colo.
Nia Grant, Penn State So. Health & Human Development State College, Pa.
Maggie Harding, Penn State Jr. Food Science State College, Pa.
Maddie Martin, Penn State Jr. Journalism Tampa, Fla.
Deja McClendon, Penn State Jr. Journalism Louisville, Ky.
Marika Racibarskas, Penn State Sr. Kinesiology Chatham, N.J.
Ariel Scott, Penn State Jr. Media Studies Ridgewood, N.J.
Katie Slay, Penn State Jr. Communication Sciences And Disorders Raleigh, N.C.
Students with a cumulative 4.0 GPA listed in bold.