University of Minnesota Athletics
32 WOMEN STUDENT-ATHLETES EARN ACADEMIC HONORS
6/9/1999 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
Schmitt, a sophomore from Hastings, Minn., won both the indoor and outdoor shot put titles at the Big Ten Championships. She earned her first All-America honor by placing second in the shot at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. Schmitt is a biology major with a 3.43 grade point average.
Junior Christine Gulbrandsen joins Schmitt as a Big Ten champion and honor student. Gulbrandsen, a German major with a 3.67 GPA, won the conference crown in the triple jump indoors and competed in both the indoor and outdoor national meets.
Eight other Golden Gopher track and field athletes were named to the Academic All-Big Ten squad: Minna Haronoja (Jr., international relations, Illo, Finland), Amy Hoel (Sr., science and technology, Cornell, Wis.), Corinne Nimtz (So. business, Eden Prairie, Minn.), Stacie Blaskowski (So., mechanical engineering, Eau Claire, Wis.), Aimee Daugs (Sr., political science, Watertown, Wis.), Pattie Galle (So., political science, Colgate, Wis.), Gena Johnson (Jr., accounting, Fond du Lac, Wis.) and Nikki Rassbach (Sr., child psychology, Chippewa Falls, Wis.).
Minnesota's Big Ten Medal of Honor award winner Shannon Beeler (Sr., sociology, Shelton, Wash.) and All-Big Ten and All-Region pitcher Steph Klaviter (Sr., kinesiology, New Ulm, Minn.) highlight the eight players from the Gophers' Big Ten Tournament champion softball team to earn league academic acclaim. Joining Beeler and Klaviter on the honor squad are Michelle Bennett (Jr., kinesiology, Hermantown, Minn.), Rayny Camacho (So., dental hygiene, Farmington, Minn.), Morgan Holden (So., kinesiology, Los Lunas, N.M.), Steph Midthun (Sr., kinesiology, Rio Rancho, N.M.), Lara Severson (Sr., criminology, LeSueur, Minn.) and Amy Hafemeyer (So., elementary education, Kenyon, Minn.).
The Gopher tennis team finished third in the Big Ten and placed four players on the academic team: Tarah Elkins (Sr., marketing, Birmingham, Mich.), Jana Hrdinova (Sr., international relations, Prague, Czech Republic), Sitinee Rangsithienchai (Sr., finance and pre-medicine, Flossmoor, Ill.) and Kim Simonsen (Jr., nutrition, Chalfont, Pa.).
The golf team earned its third consecutive Women's Athletics Department Team Academic Award in 1998-99 and with it landed six golfers on the Big Ten's elite academic team: Katie Bakken (So., business, Brooklyn Center, Minn.), Michelle Ballou (Sr., speech communication, Chaska, Minn.), Donna Boom (Sr., industrial engineering, Albert Lea, Minn.), Jenny Bruun (Jr., physical education, Crookston, Minn.), Melanie Lepp (Sr., geography, Easton, Minn.) and Kristi Weichert (Sr., business, Caledonia, Minn.).
The Big Ten recognizes student-athletes from non- conference championship sports as at-large honorees. The Gophers' hockey team, which finished third in the American Women's College Hockey Alliance National Championship, is represented by four players on the Academic All-Big Ten team: Emily Buchholz (So., biology, Waupun, Wis.), Erica Killewald (So., kinesiology and biology, Troy, Mich.), Kris Scholz (So., mathematics, Hugo, Minn.) and Angela Borek (So., undecided, Burnsville, Minn.).
The Minnesota Women's Athletics Department completed the 1998-99 academic year with 67 student-athletes honored as Academic All-Big Ten selections.
