WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – For the fifth consecutive year, 60 Boilermakers earned Big Ten Distinguished Scholar recognition for their academic excellence during the school year that wrapped up in May.

Student-athletes across the conference were recognized as Big Ten Distinguished Scholars for achieving grade-point averages of 3.70 and better during the 2023-24 academic year. Eight of the Boilermakers' 60 honorees (13%) compiled flawless 4.0 GPAs during the 2023-24 school year. Six of Purdue's teams had at least one student-athlete with a 4.0.

Twenty-one of the Boilermakers' Big Ten Distinguished Scholars were also 2024 spring graduates.

Purdue Swimming & Diving accounted for 19 of the department's 60 Big Ten Distinguished Scholars, including all six that were recognized for at least the third time – a group headlined by four-time honoree Maycey Vieta. The Big Ten champion has already qualified for the Olympic Games in 10-meter diving for Puerto Rico and earned two degrees in her five years at Purdue. Other three-time honorees included 2024 Purdue graduates Kendra Bowen, Jenna Sonnenberg, Aaron Frollo, Ethan Shaw and Andrew Witty.

Big Ten Faculty Representatives established the Distinguished Scholar award in 2008 to supplement the Academic All-Big Ten program. Distinguished Scholar recipients must have earned 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 during the previous academic year, excluding any summer grades. The Academic All-Big Ten threshold is a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher for a student's academic career.

Purdue also had 228 student-athletes earn Academic All-Big Ten honors during the 2023-24 school year – 73 in the fall, 70 in the winter and 85 in the spring.

BIG TEN DISTINGUISHED SCHOLAR NOTABLES
• Women's Swimming & Diving had a department-high 15 honorees.
• Volleyball's Eva Hudson was an AVCA Second Team All-American and First Team All-Big Ten honoree, leading the Boilermakers with 560 kills during another 20-win season that featured a pair of victories in the NCAA Tournament.
• Golfers Ashley Kozlowski and Momo Sugiyama were both in the lineup for Purdue at the NCAA Championships. They were also Second Team All-Big Ten honorees.
• Sophie McAfee, Jaye Patrick, Jenna Sonnenberg and Daryn Wright joined Maycey Vieta at the NCAA Championships. Wright, Vieta and McAfee all competed in the platform diving championship final as All-Americans in the event. McAfee was also a full-fledged All-American on 3-meter.
• Brett Otterbacher was an honorable mention All-American as part of the Boilermakers' 4x400 relay team at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
• Jordan Morales was a Third Team All-Big Ten honoree as Purdue Baseball's ace of the pitching staff. He became the first Boilermaker since 2005 to start the opening game of every weekend.
• Camden Heide was a mainstay in the regular rotation as Purdue Men's Basketball won a program-record 34 games and the Big Ten title, advancing to the Final Four for the first time since 1980. His dunk in the National Championship Game was among the team's top highlights of the year.
• Swimmer Maggie Love eclipsed the Purdue record in the 200 individual medley that had stood since 2012.

FULL LIST OF PURDUE'S 2023-24 BIG TEN DISTINGUISHED SCHOLARS
Names in bold achieved 4.0 GPAs for the school year
Years in parentheses are previous years they were also recognized

BASEBALL
• Brody Chrisman – Selling & Sales Management
• Couper Cornblum – Sociology
• Jackson Dannelley – Selling & Sales Management
• Jordan Morales – Graduate Certificate in Communication & Leadership

MEN'S BASKETBALL
• Carson Barrett – Organizational Leadership
• Camden Heide – Organizational Leadership

MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY AND TRACK & FIELD
• Alex Frey – Master's in Computer Science
• Brady Yoder – Supply Chain & Operations Management

WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY AND TRACK & FIELD
• Abigail Jacobi – Animal Science
• Samantha Jacobi - Kinesiology
• Caroline Jordan – Ecology, Evolution & Environmental Biology (2023)

FOOTBALL
• Ben Furtney – Chemical Engineering
• Caleb Krockover – Mechanical Engineering Technology (2023)
• Hayden Parise – Psychological Sciences
• Ben Van Noord – Political Science

MEN'S GOLF
• Sam Maylee – Finance
• Andrew White – Finance / Accounting

WOMEN'S GOLF
• Alison Hildebrand – Mechanical Engineering
• Ashley Kozlowski – Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering (2023)
• Momo Sugiyama – Psychological Sciences (2023)

SOCCER
• Nicole Kevdzija – Electrical Engineering
• Emily Mathews – Mechanical Engineering

SOFTBALL
• Emma Bailey – Interior Design
• Kyndall Bailey – Media & Mass Communication
• Becca Edwards – Biomedical Health Sciences – Pre-Physician's Assistant (2023)
• Hailey Hayes – Elementary Education (2023)
• Kendall Klochack – Actuarial Sciences / Applied Statistics (2023)
• Ryen Ross – Public Health

MEN'S SWIMMING & DIVING
• Luke Fortner – Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering (2023)
• Aaron Frollo – Computer Engineering (2022, 2023)
• Ethan Shaw – Supply Chain & Sales Engineering Technology (2022, 2023)
• Andrew Witty – Mechanical Engineering (2022, 2023)

WOMEN'S SWIMMING & DIVING
• Kendra Bowen – Graduate Certificate in Communication & Leadership (2022, 2023)
• Kelsey Cooper – Brain & Behavioral Sciences
• Madeline Greaves – Elementary Education
• Abby Harter – Health Science Preprofessional – Pre-Physician's Assistant (2023)
• Sophie McAfee – Economics (2023)
• Maggie Love – Biomedical Engineering
• Jaye Patrick – Graduate Certificate in Communication & Leadership
• Ana Rojas – Public Health
• Kali Sayovitz – Nutrition Science
• Kendal Schreder – Kinesiology (2023)
• Evie Sierra – Law & Society (2022)
• Jenna Sonnenberg – Law & Society (2022, 2023)
• Kate Stanley – Public Health
• Maycey Vieta – Graduate Certificate in Communication & Leadership (2021, 2022, 2023)
• Daryn Wright – Retail Management

MEN'S TENNIS
• Mujtaba Ali-Khan - Kinesiology

WOMEN'S TENNIS
• Csilla Fodor – Graduate Certificate in Communication & Leadership
• Juana Larranaga – Nutrition & Dietetics (2023)

MEN'S TRACK & FIELD
• Danny Affleck – Biology
• Grant Gogel – Mechanical Engineering (2023)
• Brett Otterbacher – Construction Engineering
• Logan Sandlin – Mechanical Engineering (2022, 2023)

WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
• Rebecca Caliendo - Economics
• Jaylie Lohmeyer – Visual Communication Design
• Mary Sowinski - Nursing

VOLLEYBALL
• Ali Hornung – Hospitality & Tourism Management (2023)
• Eva Hudson – Biomedical Health Sciences – Pre-Med
• Julia Kane – Natural Resources & Environmental Sciences