WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Thirty-nine Purdue student-athletes spanning five sports were honored with Academic All-Big Ten accolades, the conference announced on Tuesday.
The soccer team led the way with 14 honorees, while the football team added 12 honorees. Eight women’s cross country runners, four men’s cross country runners and one volleyball player rounded out the group.
Sophomore linebacker Joe Holland and sophomore cross country runner Kara Conflenti were two of eight student-athletes singled out by the conference for boasting a perfect 4.0 grade-point average.
Junior defensive end Ryan Kerrigan received second team Academic All-America honors and CoSIDA Academic All-District V accolades earlier in the year. The math major, who also was named first team All-Big Ten by the media for his work on the field, was the first Boilermaker football player to earn Academic All-America honors since punter Jared Armstrong was a second team selection in 2007.
Senior soccer players Jessica Okoroafo and Katie Seeger were named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team presented by ESPN The Magazine. Okoroafo, a forward, was named to the first team, while Seeger, a midfielder, garnered second-team recognition. The pair were part of a senior class which compiled the most wins in program history, 58, while Okoroafo boasts school records for goals (35), game-winning goals (16), games played (91) and shots (250).
Arthurs, a middle blocker, was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District first team for volleyball. The Preseason All-Big Ten selection, posted an NCAA and Big Ten record 1.000 hitting percentage with 10 kills on 10 attempts in the season opener against Ball State. The speech/language and hearing sciences major is a two-time Academic All-District selection.
Academic All-District awards for cross country are not awarded until spring.
A total of 704 student-athletes were honored for their work in the classroom this fall. The student-athletes met the criteria of being at least a second-year student and carrying a minimum grade-point average of 3.0.
Purdue honorees
Football
Kyle Adams, Jr.
Adam Brockman, Jr.
Chris Carlino, So.
Dan Dierking, Jr.
Joey Elliott, Sr.
Joe Holland, Jr.
Andy Huffman, Sr.
Dennis Kelly, So.
Ryan Kerrigan, Jr.
Robert Maci, So.
Chris Summers, Sr.
Jason Werner, Sr.
Men’s Cross Country
Cale Allen, So.
Dominic DeSantis, So.
Ladd Mercer, So.
Caden Shields, Jr.
Soccer
Katie Becker, Jr.
Carianne Betts, Jr.
Kaitlyn Blacha, So.
Alex Jenkins, So.
Katie Leinert, So.
Lauren Montenegro, So.
Jessica Okoroafo, Sr.
Kellie Phillips, So.
Loredana Riverso, Sr.
Brookley Rogers, So.
Liz Secue, Jr.
Katie Seeger, Sr.
Alexis Tryba, So.
Lauren Varnau, So.
Volleyball
Kristen Arthurs, Jr.
Women’s Cross Country
Stephanie Bonk, So.
Kara Conflenti, So.
Katie Conrad, So.
Maggie Daly, Jr.
Danielle Eagan, Sr.
Sarah Klaczynski, Sr.
Katie Morrical, Sr.
Kristin Phillips, Sr.
