UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – One hundred seventy-four Penn State student-athletes earned Spring/At-Large Academic All-Big Ten honors to boost the Nittany Lions yearly total to 350 for 2019-20. The 174 spring/at-large selections rank second in program history.
The 2019-20 total follows a school-record mark of 368 during the 2018-19 academic year. The latest 174 honorees bring Penn State's total academic honorees to 6,953 since 1991-92.
Claire Swedberg (softball), Medora McCarthy (women's fencing), Madison Carter (women's lacrosse), Gracey Hirsch (women's tennis) and Julia Paternain each maintained perfect 4.0 GPAs.
Penn State's spring/at-large honorees include: Penn State Female Student-Athlete of the Year Danae Rivers (women's track & field) and All-Americans Grant Ament (men's lacrosse), Jack Kelly (men's lacrosse), Mac O'Keefe (men's lacrosse), Maddie Holmberg (women's track & field), Alexa Parks (women's track & field) and Taylor Suplee (women's lacrosse).
Penn State Highest Academic All-Big Ten Yearly Totals
(3.0 GPA):
2018-19: 368*
2017-18: 360
2019-20: 350
2016-17: 299
2015-16: 299
2012-13: 296
2013-14: 287
*School Record
The Nittany Lions' spring/at-large teams were led overall by men's lacrosse with 23 honorees. On the women's side, track & field and lacrosse each had 21 honorees.
Team by Team Honorees
Baseball – 10
Men's Fencing – 9
Men's Lacrosse – 23
Men's Golf – 6
Men's Tennis – 6
Men's Track & Field – 18
Men's Volleyball – 9
Softball – 9
Women's Fencing – 12
Women's Golf – 6
Women's Hockey – 17
Women's Lacrosse – 21
Women's Tennis – 7
Women's Track & Field – 21
One hundred forty-four Nittany Lions earned their degrees thus far during the 2019-20 academic year with additional graduates to come in August. The total includes 125 graduates earlier in May. Penn State student-athletes have led the athletic department to 34 Big Ten championships and nine NCAA National Championships since October 2013.
School-Record Twenty Teams Earn Perfect 1,000 APR Scores in 2018-19; Football Posts First Single-Year 1,000 APR Score
The 20 Penn State teams that earned perfect APR scores of 1,000 in 2018-19 were: women's basketball, men's cross country, women's cross country, women's fencing, field hockey, football, men's golf, women's golf, men's gymnastics, women's gymnastics, men's hockey, women's hockey, men's lacrosse, women's lacrosse, men's volleyball, softball, women's swimming & diving, women's tennis, women's track & field and women's volleyball.
The football team posted its first 1,000 single-year APR in program history, topping the previous high of 993 in 2014-15. The women's cross country, women's fencing, men's golf, women's golf and women's track & field teams have perfect 1,000 yearly APR scores in four consecutive reports.
Nittany Lions' Multi-Year APR Average Again Exceeds Division I Average
The average multi-year APR score for Penn State's 29 varsity teams is 986, above the Division I average of 983, according to the NCAA. The men's and women's indoor and outdoor track & field teams are combined in the APR data, reducing the number of Penn State teams from 31 to 29 in the compilation.
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 May 1 for spring sports, who have been enrolled fulltime at the institution for a minimum of 12 months and carry a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.
The conference office will also present the Distinguished Scholar Award at a later date. Students eligible for the Distinguished Scholar Award must be a recipient of Academic All-Big Ten recognition in the previous academic year, must have been enrolled fulltime at the institution for the entire previous academic year (two semesters or three quarters) and earned a minimum GPA of 3.70 or better during the previous academic year (excluding any summer grades). The Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award was established by conference Faculty Representatives as an addition to the conference's Academic All-Big Ten program.
--PENN STATE--