University of Minnesota Athletics
Dalen, Stemper Named Distinguished Scholars
7/28/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Park Ridge, Ill. - University of Minnesota softball seniors Katie Dalen and Shannon Stemper were honored by the Big Ten recently, being named to the initial list of Distinguished Scholars, announced by the league office.
Dalen, a double major in communication & business and marketing education, posted a 3.83 grade point average during her senior campaign. The Roseville, Minn. native is also a rare four-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree.
Stemper, a finance/insurance risk management major maintained a 3.79 GPA in her senior season and was a three-time Academic All-Big Ten member. The Burnsville, Minn. native started every game for the Golden Gophers last spring and led team in fielding percentage while finishing among the team leaders in hits and RBI.
The Big Ten Conference recognized a total of 498 student-athletes who were selected as the inaugural recipients of the Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award. The list featured student-athletes from every institution and 32 different sports who have earned a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.7 or higher for the previous academic year.
In February of 2008, Big Ten Faculty Representatives established a new conference academic recognition to supplement the Academic All-Big Ten program. Similar to the Academic All-Big Ten honor, Distinguished Scholar Award recipients must be letterwinners in at least their second academic year at their institution. However, the new award encompasses only student-athletes with a minimum GPA of 3.7 or higher for the previous academic year, excluding summer school. The Academic All-Big Ten threshold is a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher for their academic career.
Following the season, Dalen and Stemper joined eight of their teammates as a record 10 softball players were named to the Big Ten Spring All-Academic team.
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