Academics

Record 368 Penn State student-athletes earn Academic All-Big Ten honors

Credit: Penn State Athletics. All Rights Reserved.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — For the fourth consecutive year, Penn State student-athletes in the spring/at-large sports have broken their Academic All-Big Ten record total, boosting the Nittany Lions to an overall record high for 2018-19.

A school-record 183 Nittany Lion students from the spring/at-large sports lifted Penn State Athletics to a record 368 Academic All-Big Ten selections in 2018-19. The previous high among the spring/at-large sports was 166 and the previous yearly mark was 360, both of which were set in 2017-18.

The Nittany Lions broke their Academic All-Big Ten yearly record high for the third time in the past four years (see below).

Penn State is second among all Big Ten institutions with 6,603 Academic All-Big Ten honorees since 1991-92, its first year of competition in some Big Ten sports. The Nittany Lions' 368 honorees this year ranked No. 3 in the conference.

Penn State's spring/at-large honorees include: 2018-19 NCAA individual champions Karol Metryka (men's fencing) and Danae Rivers (women's track and field), 2018 and 2019 NCAA runner-up Zara Moss (women's fencing), men's lacrosse first-team All-Americans Grant Ament and Chris Sabia, and Kelsey Crow (women's hockey), who graduated with a 3.94 grade-point average and was the recipient of Penn State's Eric A. Walker Award.

Penn State highest Academic All-Big Ten yearly totals (3.0 GPA):

2018-19 – 368*

2017-18 – 360

2016-17 – 299

2015-16 – 299

2012-13 – 296

2013-14 - 287

*School record

Five spring/at-large teams break record highs for honorees

Five Nittany Lion spring/at-large teams eclipsed their team records, and one more tied its previous high, for the number of Academic All-Big Ten selections:

Women's lacrosse – 22 (first in conference)

Men's lacrosse – 21

Women's fencing – 17

Baseball – 15 (tie)

Men's tennis – 10 (first in conference)

Men's volleyball - 10

The Nittany Lions' spring/at-large teams were led overall by women's track and field, which had 24 honorees. The women's lacrosse (22) and men's lacrosse (21) squads broke their previous highs for Academic All-Big Ten recipients.

The Penn State women's ice hockey (16), men's track and field (16), baseball (15), men's tennis (10), and men's volleyball (10) squads also cracked double digits for spring/at-large Academic All-Big Ten honorees.

Women's golf, women's lacrosse, and men's tennis lead Big Ten in honorees

Three of Penn State's spring/at-large teams led all conference institutions in the number of honorees and two others were tied for second. The women's golf (eight), women's lacrosse (22), and men's tennis (10) teams led their respective sports in Academic All-Big Ten recipients. The baseball (15) and women's tennis (six) teams were tied for second in the conference.

To be eligible for Academic All-Big Ten selection, students must be on a varsity team, as verified by being on the official squad list as of May 1 for spring sports, who have been enrolled full time at the institution for a minimum of 12 months and carry a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher.

Penn State highest Academic All-Big Ten spring/at-large totals (3.0 GPA):

2018-19 – 183*

2017-18 – 166

2016-17 – 145

2015-16 - 140

2013-14 - 138

2014-15 – 135

*School record

Penn State, ranked No. 3 in the latest Learfield IMG College Directors' Cup standings, has one of the nation's most comprehensive and successful athletic programs, featuring approximately 800 student-athletes across 31 programs (16 men's, 15 women's). Under the direction of Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Sandy Barbour, Nittany Lion students have an NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of 90 percent, which ties the Nittany Lions' all-time high. Eight teams earned a 100 percent GSR in the NCAA's 2018 report.

A school-record total of 167 Nittany Lion students have earned their degrees so far during the 2018-19 academic year, with additional graduates to come in August. The total includes a spring-record 133 graduates earlier this month. Penn State student-athletes, who have captured 32 Big Ten championships and conference-best nine NCAA titles since the 2013 fall semester, consistently are among the nation's most successful in earning their degrees.

The conference office also will present the Distinguished Scholar Award in July. Students eligible for the Distinguished Scholar Award must be a recipient of Academic All-Big Ten recognition in the previous academic year, must have been enrolled full time at the institution for the entire previous academic year (two semesters or three quarters), and earned a minimum GPA of 3.70 or better during the previous academic year (excluding any summer grades). The Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award was established by conference faculty representatives as an addition to the conference's Academic All-Big Ten program.

The complete list of Penn State's 183 Academic All-Big Ten spring/at-large honorees can be found here.

Last Updated August 30, 2019