University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Place 63 on All-Academic Teams
4/6/2010 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
The University of Minnesota had 63 winter student-athletes earn Academic All-Big Ten honors as named by the conference office. The total is the second most in the league behind only Ohio State's 65 and a five-athlete improvement over last year's winter total of 58.
Minnesota, which recently earned a No. 5 national ranking in the Division I Learfield Directors' Cup standings, competes in seven winter sports - men's and women's basketball, men's and women's gymnastics, men's and women's swimming and wrestling.
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.
Minnesota's swimming and diving teams lead the way in total number of honorees, with the men placing 17 on the Academic All-Big Ten squad and the women 14.
Women's basketball paced the Gophers in terms of percent of Academic All-Big Ten selections, with 64 percent of the team (9 of 14) earning recognition. Men's gymnastics wasn't far behind with 11 of 19 team members or 57 percent of the squad qualifying for honors.
The most athletically decorated Minnesota student-athlete to earn Academic All-Big Ten status was senior Jayson Ness. One of six Gophers named to the league's all-academic wrestling team, Ness captured the NCAA title at 133 pounds after completing a perfect 31-0 campaign. He was also named the winner of the 2010 Dan Hodge Trophy, considered to be the greatest honor in college wrestling, as well as Wrestler of the Year by Intermat.
The Big Ten Winter Academic All-Big Ten Conference Team recognized the athletic and academic excellence of 539 total student-athletes from across the league's 11 teams.
2009-10 Winter Academic All-Big Ten Selections
School, Honorees (Sports)
Illinois, 46 (6)
Indiana, 29 (5)
Iowa, 53 (7)
Michigan, 50 (7)
Michigan State, 56 (6)
Minnesota, 63 (7)
Northwestern, 37 (5)
Ohio State, 65 (7)
Penn State, 60 (7)
Purdue, 57 (5)
Wisconsin, 23 (5)
Minnesota Academic All-Big Ten Selections (by sport)
Men's Basketball (1)
Blake Hoffarber, Jr. (Finance)
Men's Gymnastics (11)
Ali Aleiou, Sr. (Biomedical Engineering)
Russell Dabritz, So. (Undeclared)
Aaron Fortunato, Sr. (Civil Engineering)
Travis Heaver, Jr. (Electrical Engineering)
Michael Hillin, Jr. (Biology, Society & Environment)
Colin McGuire, Sr. (Kinesiology)
Thomas O'Brien, Sr. (Biology)
Michael Paulus, Jr. (Finance)
Adam Reichow, Sr. (Management)
David Repp, So. (Undeclared)
Cole Storer, Sr. (American Studies)
Men's Swimming & Diving (17)
Kevin Baseheart, Jr. (Geography)
Zachary Bolin, So. (Chemistry)
Karl Burdis, So. (Undeclared)
Curtis Carlson, Jr. (Business & Marketing Education)
Michael Daup, Sr. (Aerospace Engineering)
Philip Greenberg, Jr. (Electrical Engineering)
Ivan Gutesa, Jr. (Undeclared)
Richard Hills, So. (Undeclared)
Kristoffer Jorgenson, So. (Undeclared)
Jacob Kittilstad, Sr. (Journalism)
Andrew Knaak, So. (Pre-Journalism)
Nadav Kochavi, Jr. (Architecture)
Matthew Papenfuss, So. (Statistics)
Robert Schaefer, Sr. (Computer Science)
Robert Schnitzler, Jr. (Finance)
Mark Solfelt, Sr. (Marketing)
Zach Weis, Jr. (Sociology of Law/Criminal/Deviance BA)
Women's Basketball (9)
Kiara Buford, So. (Undeclared)
Kristen Dockery, Jr. (Sports Management)
Zoe Harper, Sr. (Sports Management)
Brianna Mastey, So. (Undeclared)
Nicole Mastey, So. (Undeclared)
Brittany McCoy, Sr. (Speech, Language Hearing Sciences BA)
Katie Ohm, Sr. (Applied Kinesiology)
Tanisha Smith, Sr. (Kinesiology)
Jackie Voigt, So. (Undeclared)
Women's Gymnastics (5)
Ana Balboa-Gonzalez, Jr. (Human Research/Industrial Relations B S)
Jamie Bullock, Jr. (Kinesiology)
Kendra Elm, Jr. (Biomedical Engineering)
Lucy Ennis, So. (Undeclared)
Briana Jones, So. (Undeclared)
Women's Swimming & Diving (14)
Molly Belk, Jr. (Undeclared)
Megan Braun, Jr. (Child Psychology)
Marissa Davies, So. (Pre-Major)
Alison Eggers, Jr. (Sociology Of Law/Criminal/Deviance BA)
Andrea Hanson, Sr. (Marketing)
Kaylee Jamison, Jr. (Biochemistry)
Melissa Nelson, So. (Pre-Major)
Meagan Radecke, Jr. (Biomedical Engineering)
Kelsey Ridder, Jr. (Inter-College Program)
Ashley Steenvoorden, So. (Undeclared)
Kristen Steenvoorden, So. (Undeclared)
Lissa Tommerdahl, So. (Biology)
Jillian Tyler, Jr. (Journalism)
Hannah Whitehead, So. (Undeclared)
Wrestling (6)
Brent Eidenshink, Jr. (Business & Marketing Education)
Luke Mellmer, So. (Technology Education)
Jayson Ness, Sr. (Technology Education)
Joseph Nord, Jr. (Business & Marketing Education)
Brian Peterson, So. (Entrepreneurial Management)
Michael Thorn, Jr. (Business & Marketing Education)
