University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Gains 120 Spring Big Ten All-Academic Accolades
6/1/2006 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
The Big Ten Conference announced that 120 student-athletes from the University of Minnesota have earned Academic All-Big Ten honors for the spring season. Minnesota sports included in the spring were baseball, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s hockey (as at-large sports), rowing, softball, men’s and women’s tennis and men’s and women’s track and field. To be eligible for Academic All-Big Ten selection, student-athletes must be letterwinners in at least their second academic year at their institution and carry a career grade-point average (GPA) of 3.0 or better.
Baseball, who finished the season 34-26 and advanced to the Big Ten Tournament game for a sixth straight season, had 12 played named Academic All-Big Ten including All-Big Ten honorees Andy Hunter (West St. Paul, Minn.) and Matt Nohelty (Rothschild, Wis.).
Men’s golf was represented by Patrick Datz (Blufton, S.C.) as a Big Ten All-Academic honoree.
Women’s golf had seven players named All-Academic, including Emily Brand (Alexandria, Minn.) who finished 38th at the Big Ten Championship, and received the Big Ten Sportsmanship award for women’s golf for the Golden Gophers.
The Minnesota men’s at-large teams were represented by men’s hockey, who won the WCHA regular-season title. Gino Guyer (Coleraine, Minn.), Kellen Briggs (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Mike Howe (St. Cloud, Minn.), Evan Kauffman (Plymouth, Minn.) and Tom Pohl (Red Wing, Minn.) all doubled up as Big Ten and WCHA All-Academic performers.
Minnesota’s women’s at-large teams were represented by women’s hockey, who finished second in the nation. The Golden Gophers had 11 players make the Big Ten All-Academic team, including team MVP Bobbi Ross (Verwood, Saskatchewan).
The Golden Gophers’ softball team had six players named Academic All-Big Ten, including Valerie Alston (Canyon Lake, Calif.) who was Second-Team Academic All-District.
Minnesota’s men’s tennis team, which advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2003, had seven players named Academic All-Big Ten. Included in that list was Adrien DeBreyne (Mons en Baroeul, France) who won the Big Ten sportsmanship award for Minnesota for men’s tennis.
The women’s tennis team had six players on the Big Ten All-Academic team paced by the team MVP Nischela Reddy (Hyderbad, India).
Minnesota’s men’s track and field team, who finished second in the Big Ten Championships, had 17 Academic All-Big Ten honorees. That list included Aaron Buzard (Rochester, Minn.), who was named the NCAA Midwest District Track Athlete of the Year on June 1.
The women’s track and field team, who won their first ever Big Ten Championship this year had 32 athletes named Academic All-Big Ten. That list included Liz Podomonick (Lakeville, Minn.) who won the Big Ten shot put championship and Emily Brown (West Allis, Wis.) who won the Big Ten championship in the 3,000- meter steeplechase.
Minnesota’s rowing team, who finished second place in the Big Ten Championships, had 16 athletes on the Big Ten All-Academic team.
