The Big Ten Conference office announced its annual postgraduate scholarship recipients on Thursday. Two students competing in intercollegiate athletics from each of the 14 Big Ten institutions who plan to continue their education at a graduate degree program were each awarded a $7,500 scholarship, based on primarily academic achievements.
This year’s recipients span 17 different sports and will continue their education in a variety of different disciplines, including aerospace engineering, agricultural economics, architectural studies, art history, biomedical engineering, business, chemical engineering, criminal justice, economics, environmental sciences, finance, history, kinesiology, neuroscience, operations management, physiology, public relations, psychology and statistics. All of this year’s recipients have been named Academic All-Conference during their careers.
Three of the recipients have been named Big Ten Sportsmanship honorees in their respective sports during this academic year: Indiana’s Mollie Getzfread in field hockey, Purdue’s Jon McKeeman in basketball and Wisconsin’s Sara Novak in softball. Two captured national championships in 2016-17: Penn State’s Geno Morelli in wrestling and Ohio State’s Christy Blough in men’s volleyball. Five earned All-Big Ten accolades during the 2016-17 campaign with Nebraska’s Jennie Laeng earning first-team honors in gymnastics, Ohio State’s Lindsay Agnew a second-team selection in soccer, Getzfread gaining second-team honors, Michigan State’s Nicola Deans was a second-team honoree in gymnastics and Iowa’s Loxley Kaela garnering honorable mention accolades in volleyball.
Agnew and Morelli were awarded the Wayne Duke Postgraduate Scholarship in February 2017.
Each Big Ten institution developed its own on-campus selection process when awarding the scholarship. Students must have maintained at least a 3.2 grade-point-average, demonstrated leadership qualities, served as an excellent role model and intended to continue their academic work beyond their baccalaureate degree at a graduate degree program.
The scholarship will be used to pay expenses of the student’s postgraduate education to include such related activities as research and teaching, as well as other expenses such as tuition, fees, room and board, required course-related supplies and books. In order to retain the scholarship, the recipient must be accepted into a full-time graduate degree program within three years from the fall semester after selection.
The complete list of 2016-17 Big Ten Postgraduate Scholarship recipients can be found below.
Illinois
Alia Abu-Douleh, Women’s Soccer
Aaron Wilks, Men’s Track and Field
Indiana
Austin Foote, Baseball
Mollie Getzfread, Field Hockey
Iowa
Loxley Keala, Women’s Volleyball
Alex Meyer, Wrestling
Maryland
Charde’ Barnes, Women’s Track and Field/Cross Country
Tayler Stiles, Baseball
Michigan
Eliza Stein, Field Hockey
Cameron Stitt, Men’s Swimming
Michigan State
Nicola Deans, Women’s Gymnastics
Andrew Herr, Men’s Soccer
Minnesota
Bailey Abernathy, Women’s Gymnastics
Michael Kroells, Wrestling
Nebraska
Eric Coufal, Wrestling
Jennie Laeng, Women’s Gymnastics
Northwestern
Julia Abelsky, Fencing
Cooper Wetherbee, Baseball
Ohio State
Christian “Christy” Blough, Men’s Volleyball
Lindsay Agnew, Women’s Soccer
Penn State
Casey Francis, Women’s Swimming
Geno Morelli, Wrestling
Purdue
Jon McKeeman, Men’s Basketball
Christa Szalach, Women’s Soccer
Rutgers
Patrick McCabe, Men’s Lacrosse
Sarah Regn, Field Hockey
Wisconsin
Sara Novak, Softball
Alexander Idarrada, Men’s Rowing
News courtesy of the Big Ten.