ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference office announced its annual postgraduate scholarship recipients on Thursday, with $15,000 awarded to each institution. Twenty-nine student-athletes from the 14 Big Ten institutions who plan to continue their education at a graduate degree program were awarded the scholarship, based on primarily academic achievements.
This year’s recipients span 15 different sports and will continue their education in a variety of different disciplines, including athletic administration and sport management, audiology, biomedical engineering, business administration, chemistry, communicative sciences and disorders, dentistry, international affairs, law, medicine, occupational therapy and physical therapy.
All of this year’s recipients have been named Academic All-Conference at least once in their career, while four have been tabbed Academic All-Americans– Michigan State’s Ryan Keener, Penn State’s Matthew Brown, Rutgers’ Campbell Sode and Wisconsin’s Kimberly Dinh. Three student-athletes helped lead their teams to Big Ten Championships this season, including Michigan’s Justin Glanda (men’s swimming and diving), Minnesota’s Jessica Plant (women’s swimming and diving) and Nebraska’s John Welk (men’s indoor track and field).
Maryland’s Shannon Bustillos, Michigan State’s Keener and Becca Mills, Penn State’s Brown and Katie Rodden, Rutgers’ Greta Leberfinger and Wisconsin’s Dinh have been named Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honorees in their respective sports so far this academic year, while Bustillos, Glanda and Keener have also earned All-Conference honors this season. Plant and Sode also received the 2015 Wayne Duke Postgraduate Award, while Glanda and Welk have been named Big Ten Medal of Honor recipients with five schools yet to announce their honorees.
Each Big Ten institution developed its own on-campus selection process when awarding the scholarship. Student-athletes 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 2014-15 Big Ten Postgraduate Scholarship recipients can be found below.
Illinois
- Maurice Watkins, Track and Field
- Hailey Booth, Swimming and Diving
Indiana
- Will Nolden, Baseball
- Rebecca Dreher, Soccer
Iowa
- Michael Vinyard, Swimming and Diving
- Gabrielle Watson, Rowing
Maryland
- Joshua Polacek, Wrestling
- Shannon Bustillos, Softball
Michigan
- Justin Glanda, Swimming and Diving
- Chelsey Miller, Cross Country/Track and Field
Michigan State
- Ryan Keener, Soccer
- Becca Mills, Basketball
- Minnesota
- Christopher Johnson, Swimming and Diving
- Jessica Plant, Swimming and Diving
Nebraska
- John Welk, Track and Field
- Amanda Lauer, Gymnastics
- Jennifer Lauer, Gymnastics
Northwestern
- John Coukos, Wrestling
- Julia Kuhn, Softball
Ohio State
- Tim Wetzel, Baseball
- Chloe Meyer, Rowing
Penn State
- Matthew Brown, Wrestling
- Katie Rodden, Cross Country/Track and Field
- Purdue
Manuel Gutierrez, Swimming and Diving - Carly Marshall, Swimming and Diving
Rutgers
- Campbell Sode, Lacrosse
- Greta Leberfinger, Swimming and Diving
Wisconsin
- Andrew Brekke, Track and Field
- Kimberly Dinh, Golf
This is an unedited press release courtesy of the Big Ten Conference.
