UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Led by 22 students who earned perfect 4.0 grade point averages, Penn State Athletics had 157 Big Ten Distinguished Scholars, which is a non-alternate grading program record, in the 2021-22 academic year, breaking the previous school record of 117 in 2018-19.
The Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award is presented to student-athletes who have recorded a grade-point average of 3.7 or higher during the previous academic year.
Penn State's seven highest Big Ten Distinguished Scholar totals have come in the past seven years. The 22 Nittany Lion students earning a 4.0 during the 2021-22 academic year surpasses the previous non-alternative grading high-water mark of 15 perfect GPAs in 2018-19.
The athletic department's academic success included 478 student-athletes earning Academic All-Big Ten honors and 150 Nittany Lions who graduated during the 2021-22 academic year (December and May).
The 22 Nittany Lions who posted perfect 4.0 GPAs during the 2021-22 academic year were: Brenden Franks (baseball), Isha Dhruva (women’s golf), Michael Artlip (men’s gymnastics), Liam Souliere (men’s hockey), Cameron Leonard (women’s hockey), Rachel Weiss (women’s hockey), Cameron Evitts (women’s lacrosse), Regan Nealon (women’s lacrosse), Seth Kuhn (men’s soccer), Keegan Ness (men’s soccer), Kerry Abello (women’s soccer), Cori Dyke (women’s soccer), Ally Schlegel (women’s soccer) Claire Swedberg (softball), Meredith Canova (women’s swimming & diving), Marie Schobel (women’s swimming & diving), Olivia Davis-Ryan (women’s tennis), Payton Sewall (men’s track & field), Kaitlin Jones (women’s track & field), Gianna Rao (women’s track & field), Victoria Tachinski (women’s track & field) and Jonni Parker (women’s volleyball).
A total of 27 of Penn State teams had at least one Big Ten Distinguished Scholar (men's and women's cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field are combined).
Russ Mushinsky, director of the Morgan Academic Center, reported that the women's swimming and diving and women’s cross country/track & field teams led all Penn State squads with 15 Big Ten Distinguished Scholars. Women’s soccer accounted for 12 honorees for third most among Penn State programs. The swimming & diving program had 25 total honorees with 10 students from the men’s program honored by the conference. The women’s lacrosse (11) and women’s hockey (11) programs also had double-digit honorees.
The school record of 157 honorees boosts Penn State to a total of 1,295 Big Ten Distinguished Scholars since the program was established by the Big Ten Faculty Representatives in 2008-09 to supplement the Academic All-Big Ten program.
Similar to the Academic All-Big Ten honor, Distinguished Scholar Award recipients must be in at least their second academic year at their institution. The Distinguished Scholar Award encompasses only students with a minimum GPA of 3.7 or higher for the previous academic year, excluding summer school.