Smart Gophers: 2014-15 Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Awards

It seems that at the University of Minnesota, student-athletes have very athletic minds. As reported today by GopherSports.com (story link) 72 Gophers earned Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Awards for the 2014-2015 academic year. These players represented 20 of the University's varsity teams. This years haul was the 2nd most by the Gophers, second only to the incredible 86 in 2011-2012 and was second in the Big Ten behind Michigan State who had 78; take that Northwestern and "our standards are too high" Wisconsin.

To qualify, student-athletes had to maintain a minimal GPA of 3.7 for the academic year (excluding summer school), be a letter winner, and be in at least their second academic year. According to BTN.com (story link), 781 student-athletes across the Big Ten earned this award, with every member and 38 different sports represented. Of those receiving this award, an impressive 119 students maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA, including 9 Gophers. Those Gophers who had a 4.0 are shown below:

• Becca Dyson (women's cross country)
• Marnie Kinnaird (women's cross country)
• Jack Metcalf (men's gymnastics)
• Lisa Weeks (rowing)
• Kiera Janzen (women's swimming & diving)
• Jessica Plant (women's swimming & diving)
• Tori Simenec (women's swimming & diving)
• Katie Murgic (women's track & field)
• Michael Kroells (wrestling)

The break down for the Gophers are shown below (to see the names, check out the Gophersports.com article).

• Baseball (3)
• Women's Basketball (2)
• Men's Cross Country (2)
• Women's Cross Country (4)
• Football (2)
• Women's Golf (2)
• Men's Gymnastics (2)
• Women's Gymnastics (2)
• Men's Hockey (2)
• Women's Hockey (4)
• Rowing (5)
• Soccer (7)
• Softball (2)
• Men's Swimming & Diving (8)
• Women's Swimming & Diving (6)
• Men's Tennis (2)
• Women's Tennis (2)
• Men's Track & Field (3)
• Women's Track & Field (8)
• Wrestling (4)