Huskers Place 274 on Big 12 Honor Roll

Lincoln - An impressive 274 University of Nebraska student-athletes produced spring semester grade-point averages of 3.0 or better, including 37 perfect 4.0 GPA semesters, the NU Athletic Department announced on Thursday.

Nebraska led the Big 12 Conference with 274 honorees, including 60 Husker football players who posted strong semesters in the classroom during the spring. Among the strong contingent from Coach Bill Callahan’s football program, seven football student-athletes posted perfect 4.0 GPA semesters.

Along with the impressive showing from the football program, Coach Gary Pepin’s men’s and women’s track field programs placed 64 student-athletes on the honor roll, while also capturing three Big 12 Conference titles and a trio of top 10 NCAA finishes on the track during the indoor and outdoor seasons in 2005. Two-time national champion Anne Shadle and outdoor national champion Dmitrijs Milkevics were among the track standouts honored for their efforts in the classroom.

While the football team and men’s and women’s track and field teams produced impressive totals, Nebraska’s Big 12 champion and College World Series qualifying baseball team also featured 16 student-athletes with 3.0 or better semesters in the classroom during the spring. Nebraska Male Student-Athlete of the Year and second-team CoSIDA Academic All-American Daniel Bruce headlined the performance of Coach Mike Anderson’s baseball team academically with a perfect 4.0 GPA during the semester.

Coach Pablo Morales’ swimming and diving program also made some major strides in the classroom by producing 17 swimmers with 3.0 or better GPAs during the spring. In the pool, the Huskers continued their improvement by finishing third at the Big 12 Championships.

The Nebraska women’s soccer team, which advanced to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in nine seasons under Coach John Walker during the fall, added 14 student-athletes to the honor roll, while Coach John Cook’s volleyball program, which advanced to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament and won the Big 12 crown, contributed 12 student-athletes to the honor roll, including three players with perfect 4.0 GPA semesters (Sarah Pavan, Christina Houghtelling, Kelsey Fautsch).

The women’s golf program nearly had perfect attendance on the honor roll, with Coach Robin Krapfl’s crew placing 11 players on the honor roll, while Coach Connie Yori’s women’s basketball program and Coach Rhonda Revelle’s softball program each contributed 10 Huskers to the spring honor squad.

Coach Dan Kendig’s women’s gymnastics program, which advanced to the NCAA Super Six Finals, placed nine student-athletes on the honor roll, including NU Female Student-Athlete of the Year Richelle Simpson who produced a perfect 4.0 GPA during the spring semester.

Coach Mark Manning’s wrestling program added nine student-athletes to the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll, while Coach Scott Jacobson’s history-making women’s tennis team placed eight competitors on the honor roll. Coach Launi Meili’s women’s rifle team, which finished third at the NCAA Championships, also contributed eight student-athletes to the honor team.

Nebraska’s national champion women’s bowling team pitched in an impressive list of six student-athletes on the honor roll for Coach Bill Straub, while Coach Barry Collier’s men’s basketball team added six more Huskers to the honor roll. Coach Kerry McDermott’s men’s tennis team also pitched in six student-athletes to the honor roll.

During the 2004-05 academic year, Nebraska placed a conference-leading 531 student-athletes on the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll, including 65 student-athletes with perfect 4.0 GPAs during the fall or spring semesters.

Nebraska also led the Big 12 with 139 academic All-Big 12 honorees during the year, including a league-leading 113 first-team academic all-conference selections.