Jan. 5, 2016 DeKALB, Ill. – Northern Illinois University student-athletes have entered the new year on a high note after posting a record-high 3.14 cumulative grade point average following the completion of the 2015 fall semester.

The Huskies’ 16 sports programs compiled the highest GPA on record for a single semester at 3.10 as 211 student-athletes completed the fall with a GPA of 3.00 or higher. NIU was led by 42 student-athletes who recorded a GPA of 4.00 for the semester, including five members of both the women’s basketball and women’s cross country teams.

NIU Associate Vice-President and Director of Athletics Sean T. Frazier congratulated the Huskies on the efforts which resulted in record results for the fall semester.

“Congratulations to all of our NIU student-athletes who continue to achieve great results in the classroom,” Frazier said. “The record-breaking cumulative and semester GPA marks are another indication of the strength of our athletic program, and would not be possible without the support our students receive from our Academic Support Services personnel (SAASS), the coaching staffs and the faculty and staff throughout campus. The academic success of NIU student-athletes is as important as their athletic success; we could not be prouder of the effort and the results they continue to achieve in this area.”

By team, the 2015 fall semester saw 13 of NIU’s 16 teams, including all nine women’s sports programs, finish with a cumulative GPA above 3.00. In terms of a cumulative GPA, the NIU women’s cross country team led the way with an impressive 3.725 mark, followed closely by men’s tennis at 3.716 and women’s golf at 3.671. In the fall term, the Huskie women’s basketball squad posted the highest GPA for the term with a 3.682, followed by men’s tennis with a 3.658. Both marks were the highest term marks ever compiled by the respective teams, an achievement also reached by the NIU men’s basketball and cross country squads. Nine different teams had fall GPAs above 3.3.

Melissa Dawson, NIU Senior Associate Athletic Director for Academic Support Services (SAASS) was understandably proud of the Huskies’ academic results for the fall semester.

“This is a direct result of hard work by the student athletes and Student-Athlete Academic Support Services staff,” Dawson said. “Our improvement in services and dedication by the staff; Megan O’Quin, Monique Bernoudy, C.J. Oates, Eric Wall, Mo Smunt, and Leonard LeGrand help set the new bar of academic success. We appreciate the support and cooperation from the coaches, as well as the tremendous backing by NIU Associate Vice-President and Director of Athletics Sean T. Frazier, NIU Vice-Provost Anne Birberick, and Faculty Athletic Representative Matt Streb.”

The GPA results follow up similar positive academic news regarding graduation success rates (GSR) and academic progress rate (APR) in recent years which rank the Huskies’ program at the top of the MAC and among the best in the country.

See below for a list of NIU student-athletes who achieved at the 4.00 and 3.00 and above levels for fall 2015.

Fall 2015 GPA of 4.00
Baseball: Johnny Zubek
Women’s Basketball: Amanda Corral, Ally May, Renee Sladek, Kelly Smith, Mikayla Voigt
Cross Country: Ericka Hibser, Kelsey Hildreth, Taylor Perkins, Hannah Savage, Taylor Vinhal
Football: Drew Hare, Corey Kennedy, Jimmy Russell, Max Scharping
Women’s Golf: Evelyn Brand, Connie Ellett, Taylor Ellett
Gymnastics: Emily Basara, Ally Ferber, Megan Greenfield
Men’s Soccer: Drew Donnally, Andrew Glaeser, Artur Kielar
Women’s Soccer: Amy Annala, Nicole Gobbo, Delaney Loprieno, Kate Wirthlin
Softball: Katherine Lamich, Tara Thacker
Men’s Tennis: Frederic Cadieux, Carlos Manzanas, Erich Schuette
Women’s Tennis: Maria Rozo, Nelle Youel
Track & Field: Kedisha Dallas, Alexandria Isom, Asia Thomas
Volleyball: Anna Brereton, Mary Grace Kelly, Taylor Krage
Wrestling: Quinton Rosser

Fall 2015 GPA of 3.00 or Higher
Baseball: William Anderson, Tony Brandner, Joey Ceja, Justin Fletcher, Matt Hoffmann, Tommy Hook, Danny Hyde, Stephen Letz, Brandon Mallder, Josh Mutter, Ryan Olson, Dirk Ormsby, Jordan Ruckman, Justin Ruckman, Aaron Rumfield, Jon Savarise, Wes Sery, Brian Sisler, Lucas Yapp
Men’s Basketball: Jay DeHaan, Chuks Iroegbu, Marin Maric, Laytwan Porter, Jon Siu, Jordan Thomas
Women’s Basketball: Georgia Breunig, Shavonne Brewer, Alex Dumoulin, Cassidy Glenn, Lacia Gorman, Amber Gray, Jazmine Harris, Courtney Woods
Cross Country: Maura Beattie, Katie Bristow, Danielle Dlabal, Michaela Heit, Lorena Martin, Christina Monson, Alison Olson, Carly Pederson, Faith Sirma
Football: Jackson Abresch, Matt Baltimore, Chad Beebe, Anthony Brooks Jr, Dale Brown, Adam Buirge, Cameron Clinton-Earl, Aidan Conlon, Daniel Crawford, Tommy Fiedler, Ladell Fleming, Trayshon Foster, Donovan Gordon, Ryan Graham, Christian Hagan, Ty Harmston, Keith Harris Jr. Terrell Harris, Jake Hlava, Vincent Hughes, Michael Ippolito, Bobby Jones IV, Antonio Jones-Davis, William Lee, Anthony Maddie, Josh Mailloux, Boomer Mays, Tommy Mister, Levon Myers, Andrew Ness, Kyle Pugh, Ryan Roberts, Charlie Rotherham, Josh Ruka, Daniel Santacaterina, Alex Schlee, Alex Schwab, Luke Shively, Mike Smith, Jordan Steckler, Corey Thomas, Shane Wimann, Quintin Wynne
Men’s Golf: Raphael Denais, Davis Holman, Joo-Young Lee, Salvador Rocha
Women’s Golf: Kelly Anderson, Sydney Brickey, Lena Gautier, Peyton Gunnison, Hayley Mortensen, Lexi Salberg, Natalya Schleebs, Brielle Ward
Gymnastics: Lauren Africano, Natalie Amadio, Kylie Clark, Taylor Crumley, Courtney Dowdell, Nicole Fulton, Megan Gilliam, Anna Martucci, Paige Nicholas, Ashley Potts, Katherine Prentice, Aubrie Purtell, Brittany Wenzel
Men’s Soccer: Michael Banas, Adrian Coardos, Taylor Cole, Garrett Culligan, Daegan DeBono, Bertrand Gaschot, Richard Hall, Chase Hermanson, Eddie Kim, Albert Levett, Adam Lightner, Charlie Oliver, Luke Read, Jerome Roche, Max Voss, Nicolas Wandl
Women’s Soccer: Ashley Auble, Haley Cummings, Alex Elias, Marisol Galvan, Lauren Gierman, Emilie Furuseth Haugan, Allie Ingham, Marisa Knott, MacKenzie Lee, Mackenzie Lewis, Sammy O’Brien, Cassidy Page, Natalia Pena, Julia Poladian, Maggie Renfro, Kate Sanfilippo, Taylor Sarver, Jackie Wandt, Jess Wooldridge
Softball: Mykaela Arellanes, Jordyn Bowen, Jessica Conenna, Ashley Evans, Alex Frenz, Kayti Grable, Dominique Greeno, Bekah Harnish, Keegan Hayes, Abby Howlett, Kali Kossakowski, Melaina Koulous, Emily Naegele, Emma Ray, Rebecca Rupard, Sam Schmidt, Jenny Van Geertry, Maxine Vest, Caitlyn Warren, Amber Watson, Skylar Weinstein, Alaynie Woollard
Men’s Tennis: Kevin Daun, Simon Formont, Louis-Philippe Hamel, Tom Hjertonsson, Georg Lundkvist, Eric Marbach, Austin Russell
Women’s Tennis: Cristina Alvarez, Arantza De La Torre, Abigail Dekkinga, Michelle Erasmus, Stephanie McDonald, Emily Stefancic, Evelyn Youel
Track & Field: Destini Artis, Latesha Bigby, Kelly Carollo, Chennel Palmer, Abriana Pettigrew, Sidra Sherill, Ashley Sicard, Logan Tillmon
Volleyball: Paige Dacanay, Sydney Danker, Malia Gabel, Alexis Gonzales, Bri Horwath, Chrystal McAlpin, Jenna Radtke, Meg Wolowicz, Lauren Zielinski
Wrestling: Daniel Andress, Sal Annoreno, Dylan Dobzanski, Austin Eicher, Luke Greenberg, Alijah Jeffery, Tanner Lowe, Shaun’Qae McMurtry, Andrew Morse, Gabe Morse, Donald Scott, Andrew Scott, Thorian Twyner

***List also includes exhausted eligibility student-athletes.

-- NIU --

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