League-Leading 30 Jayhawks Named to Academic All-Big 12 Teams
IRVING, Texas – A total of 30 Kansas student-athletes were named to the 2016 Academic All-Big 12 Men’s and Women’s Track & Field Teams, the league office announced Tuesday. The Jayhawks and Texas Longhorns led the league with 30 honorees apiece, with the KU men’s and women’s teams each seeing 15 student-athletes honored. Eighty-nine members made up the Big 12 men’s academic team (66 first team and 23 second team), while 133 comprised the women’s squad (117 first team and 16 second team).
Twelve Jayhawk women were placed on the first team, led by sophomore Hannah Dimmick, who was one of 12 women to claim spots on the league’s academic list with a perfect 4.0 GPA, doing so for the second-straight year. In addition to Dimmick, Kansas featured five other women who earned a first team nod for the second-consecutive season, including seniors Daina Levy and Dasha Tsema as well as juniors Malika Baker, Nashia Baker and Grace Pickell. Six Jayhawks, seniors Julia Dury and Rachael Schaffer, junior Jennifer Angles, and sophomores Courtney Coppinger, Dorie Dalzell and Laura Taylor were slatted on the first team for the first time.
On the men’s side, 10 KU student-athletes earned a spot on the first team. Seniors Ben Brownlee and Evan Landes secured first team Academic All-Big 12 spots for the third time and were joined by junior Nick Maestretti, who achieved first team status for the second-straight season. Jayhawks earning a first-team nod for the first time included seniors Matt Berkshire and Phil Stand, juniors Kenny Boyer, James Hampton and Nick Meyer and sophomores Nick Giusti and Ezekiel Welch.
Rounding out KU’s academic award winners were eight second-team selections, five Kansas men and three Jayhawk women. For the men, seniors Brandon Bernal, Casey Bowen and Drew Matthews as well as sophomores Nicolai Ceban and Brandon Lombardino were all named to the team. For the women, senior Rhavean Anderson and juniors Whitney Adams and Zainab Sanni also made the second-team list.
Nominated by each institution’s director of student-athlete support services, first-team members consist of those who have maintained a 3.20 or better GPA, and the second team are those who have a 3.00 to 3.19 GPA.
To qualify, student-athletes must maintain a 3.00 GPA or higher either cumulative or the two previous semesters and must have participated in 60 percent of their team’s scheduled contests. Freshmen and transfers are not eligible in their first year of academic residence. Senior student-athletes who have participated for a minimum of two years and meet all the criteria except percent of participation are also eligible.
This weekend the Jayhawks travel to Fort Worth Texas, for the 2016 Big 12 Outdoor Track & Field Championships, taking place May 13-15 at the Lowden Track and Field Complex on the campus of TCU.
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