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The Big Ten Conference announced their 2014-15 Distinguished Scholars on Wednesday morning and 49 of Illinois' student-athletes were honored; it's the program's highest total since 2011 (51). To be eligible, students had to record a minimum GPA of 3.7 or higher during the academic year. Overall, 781 Big Ten students earned the award, with 119 maintaining a perfect 4.0 GPA.
Here are all 49 of Illinois' recipients:
(Chart via Illinois Athletics)
| 2014-15 Big Ten Distinguished Scholars from Illinois (4.0 GPA Honorees in Bold) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Sport | Year | Major | |
| Rob McDonnell | Baseball | Sr. | Recreation, Sport & Tourism | |
| Kelly Norris-Jones | Baseball | Sr. | Recreation, Sport & Tourism | |
| Reid Roper | Baseball | Sr. | Elementary Education: Mathematics | |
| Will Brewster | M Cross Country | Jr. | Integrative Biology | |
| Brendan McDonnell | M Cross Country | Sr. | Mechanical Engineering | |
| Jannis Toepfer | M Cross Country | Sr. | Technology Management | |
| Colette Falsey | W Cross Country | Sr. | Kinesiology | |
| Amanda Fox | W Cross Country | Jr. | Kinesiology | |
| Megan Lemersal | W Cross Country | So. | General Curriculum | |
| Chloe Schmidt | W Cross Country | Sr. | Civil Engineering | |
| Alyssa Schneider | W Cross Country | Sr. | Mathematics | |
| Rob Bain | Football | Jr. | Communication | |
| Mason Monheim | Football | Jr. | Community Health | |
| Joe Spencer | Football | So. | Finance | |
| Austin Teitsma | Football | Sr. | Recreation, Sport & Tourism | |
| Max Mayr | M Gymnastics | Jr. | Community Health | |
| Mike Wilner | M Gymnastics | Sr. | Computer Engineering | |
| Heather Foley | W Gymnastics | Jr. | Communication | |
| Mary Jane Horth | W Gymnastics | So. | Kinesiology | |
| Sunny Kato | W Gymnastics | Sr. | Communication and Sociology | |
| Jordan Naleway | W Gymnastics | Sr. | Communication and Social Work | |
| Giana O'Connor | W Gymnastics | Jr. | Recreation, Sport & Tourism | |
| Alia Abu-Douleh | Soccer | So. | Architectural Studies | |
| Hope D'Addario | Soccer | So. | Health Behavior Change | |
| Megan Green | Soccer | Sr. | Health Behavior Change | |
| Kylie Johnson | Softball | Jr. | Kinesiology | |
| Brittany Sanchez | Softball | Sr. | Community Health: Health Education | |
| Danielle Trezzo | Softball | Jr. | Recreation, Sport & Tourism | |
| Hailey Booth | Swimming & Diving | Sr. | Psychology | |
| Jennifer Coady | Swimming & Diving | Jr. | Accountancy | |
| Kayla Dlugopolski | Swimming & Diving | Sr. | Psychology | |
| Megan Marchuk | Swimming & Diving | Sr. | Industrial Engineering | |
| Callan McDermott | Swimming & Diving | Sr. | Community Health | |
| Alison Meng | Swimming & Diving | Sr. | Kinesiology | |
| Erika Murphy | Swimming & Diving | Sr. | Finance | |
| Gabbie Stecker | Swimming & Diving | So. | Kinesiology | |
| Jared Hiltzik | M Tennis | Jr. | Communication | |
| Melissa Kopinski | W Tennis | Sr. | Community Health | |
| Michael Hyc | M Track & Field | So. | Accountancy | |
| Aaron Wilks | M Track & Field | So. | Aerospace Engineering | |
| Jennifer DeBellis | W Track & Field | Jr. | Civil Engineering | |
| Amanda Duvendack | W Track & Field | Sr. | Biology | |
| Emma Grimes | W Track & Field | Sr. | Statistics | |
| Stephanie Richartz | W Track & Field | Sr. | Industrial Engineering | |
| Anna Dorn | Volleyball | Sr. | Kinesiology | |
| Liz McMahon | Volleyball | Sr. | Recreation, Sport & Tourism | |
| Allison Palmer | Volleyball | So. | Accountancy | |
| Kathryn Polkoff | Volleyball | Jr. | Animal Sciences | |
| Michelle Strizak | Volleyball | So. | Kinesiology | |
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