Dec. 18, 2017
Fall Academic All-Big Ten Selections
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- Penn State student-athletes toppled another school academic record with the release of the 2017 Fall Academic All-Big Ten recipients. Penn State tallied 117 fall honorees, shattering the previous fall mark of 100 set during the 2012-13 academic year.
Two Penn Staters earned perfect 4.0 grade-point average - football student-athletes Blake Gillikin and Cody Hodgens. Penn State was the only Big Ten school with multiple football student-athletes posting a 4.0 GPA.
Women's soccer student-athlete Emily Ogle and women's volleyball's Haleigh Washington were selected CoSIDA second-team Academic All-Americans in addition to their academic all-conference accolades.
Five Penn State fall squads broke their previous record for Academic All-Big Ten honorees:
Women's Cross Country-17 (Previous high 14; 2012)
Field Hockey-17 (Previous high 16; 2012, '16)
Football- 35 (28; 2012)
Men's Soccer-15 (13; 2016)
Women's Soccer- 20 (17; 2004)
The Big Ten Champion women's volleyball team had nine Academic All-Big Ten honorees, one away from its record of 10, and the men's cross country squad had four to complete Penn State's record total of 117. The Nittany Lions' 117 Academic All-Big Ten honorees this fall ranked No. 3 among all conference institutions.
Lions Second in Academic All-Big Ten Honorees Since 1991-92; Near 6,000
Penn State is second among all Big Ten institutions with 5,992 Academic All-Big Ten honorees since 1991-92, its first year of competition in some Big Ten sports. Ohio State, which has 36 varsity sports, is just four ahead of the Nittany Lions with 5,996 since 1991-92.
A three-time AVCA All-American, Washington became the first Penn State women's volleyball student-athlete to earn three Academic All-America honors and is the Nittany Lions' 200th CoSIDA Academic All-American all-time across all sports. Washington also was selected the recipient of the Senior CLASS Award for women's volleyball, presented to the sport's most outstanding senior student-athlete. Penn State student-athletes, who have captured 33 Big Ten Championships and conference-best eight NCAA titles since September 2012, consistently have been among the nation's most successful in earning their degrees.
Record-tying 90 Percent NCAA Graduation Rate for Nittany Lion Student-Athletes
Earlier this fall, the NCAA released its annual national graduation rates study, which revealed that Penn State student-athletes tied the school record by posting a Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of 90 percent compared to the 86 percent average for all Division I institutions for students entering from 2007-08 through the 2010-11 academic year. The Nittany Lions' graduation figure has grown by one point each of the past two years to the record-tying 90 percent figure.
The Nittany Lions have started the 2017-18 academic year in strong fashion, with two Big Ten Championships and five teams that have been ranked in the Top 10. The No. 1 ranked women's volleyball team and the women's soccer squad won conference titles and were joined by the field hockey team in advancing to at least their respective NCAA Championship quarterfinals.
Penn State and Stanford are the only schools to have three teams advance to the NCAA quarterfinals among this fall's five team bracketed national championships.
The Big Ten Conference recognized a total of 1,257 students competing in fall sports by naming them to the Academic All-Conference team. To be eligible for Academic All-Big Ten selection, students must be on a varsity team, as verified by being on the official squad list as of November 1 for fall sports, who have been enrolled full-time at the institution for a minimum of 12 months and carry a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher.
The conference office 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. To be eligible for selection, students must be a recipient of Academic All-Big Ten Recognition in the previous academic year, must be enrolled for the entire previous academic year (two semesters or three quarters) and earned a minimum GPA of 3.7 or higher during that time. 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 complete list of Penn State's 117 Academic All-Big Ten fall honorees is below.