July 13, 2012

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio State placed 58 student-athletes on the 2012 Big Ten Distinguished Scholars list, released today by the Big Ten Conference. Student-athletes on the list must be letterwinners in at least their second year at their school and earn a minimum grade-point average of 3.7 or higher for the previous academic year.

The Buckeyes women's swimming and diving program led the way with eight honorees, followed by women's soccer with six and rowing and fencing with five each. Five Buckeyes posted perfect 4.0 grade-point averages over the year - Nina Passen (field hockey), Michael Newburger (men's gymnastics), Melissa Rennie (softball), Katie Simonton (softball) and Chelsea Aton (synchronized swimming). Sophomore Aaron Craft is the only men's basketball player in the conference to be named a distinguished scholar this year.

For the 2011-12 academic year, a record 548 Buckeyes were named Ohio State Scholar-Athletes and Ohio State led the conference with 312 Academic All-Big Ten selections.

2011-12 Ohio State Big Ten Distinguished Scholars

Ohio State

Student-athletes with 4.0 GPAs in bold