June 11, 1998
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue's student-athletes continue to set school records for increasing numbers of Academic All-Big Ten selections, as evidenced by this past spring when 55 Boilermakers made the league's scholastic honor list. That breaks the previous mark of 50 from the spring of 1997.
Additionally, the Old Gold and Black had 99 total student-athletes make academic all-conference this past school year, two above last year's record. The Boilermakers had 22 honorees for each of the fall and winter seasons in 1997-98.
Ten baseball players made this spring's list, along with nine apiece from both men's and women's track and field, eight from women's golf, seven from softball, and four each from men's tennis, women's tennis and men's golf.
Those who qualified with career grade point averages of 3.0 or higher were:
From baseball, Jeremy Ballard (Fort Wayne, Ind., Northrop H.S.), Ryan Bettencourt (Modesto, Calif., H.S.), Brandon Buck (Bedford, Ind., Bedford-North Lawrence H.S.), Ryan Cole (Lafayette, Ind., Jefferson H.S.), Todd Ellinger (Fort Wayne, Ind., Snider H.S.), Erik Frei (Rome, N.Y., Free Academy H.S.), Daryl Hallada (Janesville, Wis., Parker H.S.), Robb Ramacher (Moundsview, Minn., Irondale H.S.), Mark Tomsyck (Milwaukee, Wis., Marquette H.S.) and Chris Walker (Joliet, Ill., Providence H.S.).
From men's track and field, Jeremy Ashcraft (Greentown, Ind., Eastern H.S.), Brad Butler (Arnold, Mo., Fox Senior H.S.), Mattias Eriksson (Fraker, Sweden, Dragonskolan H.S.), Eric Harper (West Lafayette, Ind., H.S.), Chris Spurrier (Valparaiso, Ind., Portage H.S.), Greg Tamer (Indianapolis, Ind., Lawrence North H.S.), Mike Hall (Albany, Ind., Delta H.S.), Andrew Keffaber (Wabash, Ind., Northfield H.S.) and Jeff Schrock (Wakarusa, Ind., North Wood H.S.).
From women's track and field, Darria Clayton (Gary, Ind., Roosevelt H.S.), Kierstin Doyle (Fowler, Ind., Benton Central H.S.), Ericka King (Cincinnati, Ohio, Northwest H.S.), Carri Long (Brazil, Ind., Northview H.S.), Valerie Malsch (St. John, Ind., Lake Central H.S.), Meisha Wilson-Duval (Mission Viejo, Calif., Woodbridge H.S.), Angela Draper (Terre Haute, Ind., North H.S.), Christine Mueller (Villa Park, Ill., Willowbrook H.S.) and Nicole Stevens (Canfield, Ohio, H.S.).
From women's golf, Rebecca Burkhart (Richmond, Ky., Madison Central H.S.), Colleen Cashman (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., St. Thomas Aquinas H.S.), Jill Dickey (Pendleton, Ind., Heights H.S.), Johanna Gollings (Mishawaka, Ind., Penn H.S.), Heather Hasselberg (Staples, Minn., H.S.), Lisa Kenley (Carmel, Ind., H.S.), Katie Kinsinger (Morton, Ill., H.S.) and Stacy Orschell (Connersville, Ind., H.S.).
From softball, Kristin Billen (Manchester, Mo., Parkway South H.S.), Kristie Boland (Valparaiso, Ind., H.S.), Jacki Crawford (Grass Lake, Mich., Chelsea H.S.), Jaime Martino (Orland Park, Ill., Sandburg H.S.), Skeeter Nixon (Glenwood, Ill., Marian Catholic H.S.), Jenny Schoen (Carmel, Ind., H.S.) and Mandy Smart (Stone Mountain, Ga., Redan H.S.).
From men's tennis, Tushaar Gautam (New Delhi, India, Bradenton, Fla., St. Stephen's H.S.), Jamie Gordon (Burlington, Ontario, Nelson H.S.), Evan Hays (Ann Arbor, Mich., Pioneer H.S.) and Cris James (Edmonton, Alberta, Sheppard H.S.).
From women's tennis, Hally Cohen (El Paso, Tex., Coronado H.S.), Jennifer Embry (Houston, Tex., Memorial H.S.), Mary Beth Maggart (Spring, Tex., Klein H.S.) and Shannon Taheny (Barrington, Ill., H.S.).
From men's golf, Ryan Chalfant (Winchester, Ind., Community H.S.), Colby Huffman (Carmel, Ind., H.S.), Bert Jones (New Market, Ind., Southmont H.S.) and Ryan Miller (West Alexandria, Ohio, Twin Valley South H.S.).