Michigan football team puts 11 on Academic All-Big Ten squad
The Big Ten honored 788 fall sports student-athletes Wednesday as members of the conference's Academic All-Big Ten squad.
The Michigan football team had 11 players make the grade.
Michigan's honorees were junior safety Matt Cavanaugh, senior linebacker J.B. Fitzgerald, sophomore long snapper Jareth Glanda, sophomore linebacker Cam Gordon, senior defensive tackle Will Heininger, senior safety Zac Johnson, junior safety Jordan Kovacs, senior fullback John McColgan, redshirt freshman tight end Ricardo Miller, junior offensive lineman Patrick Omameh and junior defensive end Craig Roh.
To qualify for the team, players must be letterwinners in at least their second year at their respective institutions, and carry a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.0.
Northwestern led the conference with 31 football mentions. Michigan's 11 award-winners was tied for second-fewest in the league. Ohio State had fewer with 10.
The Academic All-Big Ten football team breakdown is as follows:
Northwestern 31, Nebraska 27, Indiana 24, Purdue 20, Penn State 19, Minnesota 18, Wisconsin 17, Iowa 14, Michigan State 13, Illinois 11, Michigan 11, Ohio State 10.
Michigan had academic honorees in six other sports:
Field Hockey
Eileen Brandes, Samantha Gray, Lauren Hauge, Rachael Mack, Ainsley McCallister, Leslie Smith.
Women's soccer
Nkem Ezurike, Kristen Goncalves, Emily Jaffe, Haley Kopmeyer, Courtney Mercier, Kim Siebert, Clare Stachel, Karin Thomas, Keyana Thompsonâ€Shaw, Shelina Zadorsky.
Men's soccer
Latif Alashe, Tim Bergsma, Brian Klemczak, Eric Leifland, Tyler Leppek, Nick Lewin, Adam Shaw.
Volleyball
Jennifer Cross, Sloane Donhoff, Lexi Erwin, Courtney Fletcher, Alex Hunt, Brittany Lee, Michelle McMahon.
Men's cross country
Bobby Aprill, Craig Forys, Derek Henning, Zach Ornelas, James Yau.
Women's cross country
Rebecca Addison, Erica Crane, Lindsey Hilton, Mary Grace Pellegrini, Taylor Pogue,
Chloe Prince, Jillian Smith, Danielle Tauro, Megan Weschler.
Nick Baumgardner covers Michigan sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at 734-623-2514, by email at nickbaumgardner@annarbor.com and followed on Twitter @nickbaumgardner.
Comments
Meral
Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 3:50 p.m.
I see women's sports did better then men's. Way to go women...
Doug
Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 3:36 p.m.
I wonder if Jim Harbaugh read this.
Meangoblue
Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 2:56 p.m.
Grades don't count in heisman voting do they?
Edward R Murrow's Ghost
Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 2:53 p.m.
Congratulations to ALL Wolverine athletes in ALL sports!! truWCiMFH fan wrote: "Comments about how Rich Rod recruited below average scholastic student athletes in 5, 4, 3, 2, ..." Only one I see here raising the issues is the TruWCiMFHfan While he completely ignores the accomplishments of Wolverine athletes, he is concerned about yet-to-happen slights to the object of his desires. Typical. Good Night and Good Luck
Hebner
Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 11:51 a.m.
Kovacs...is amazing! Congrats to every athlete listed. Kovacs defines determination in every way. How many times has he come out on top when people did not expect him to? As a Michigan fan I am honored to have this young man represent Michigan. Kovacs is Rudy with talent...determination and heard on the field and in the classroom. By the way, he was hitting like John Lynch on those blitzes. Great year!
The1Cool
Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 4:42 p.m.
Hey, I love Kovacs. If only his coverage was better.
A2D2
Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 2:17 a.m.
remember, a 3.0 at MSU is like an 0.3 at Michigan. Here's the cheer: "Don't you worry, don't you fuss One day you're gonna work for us!"
truebluefan
Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 12:49 a.m.
Comments about how Rich Rod recruited below average scholastic student athletes in 5, 4, 3, 2, ...
Edward R Murrow's Ghost
Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 2:52 p.m.
Congratulations to ALL Wolverine athletes in ALL sports!! truWCiMFH fan wrote: "Comments about how Rich Rod recruited below average scholastic student athletes in 5, 4, 3, 2, ..." Only one I see here raising the issues is the TruWCiMFHfan While he completely ignores the accomplishments of Wolverine athletes, he is concerned about yet-to-happen slights to the object of his desires. Typical. Good Night and Good Luck
Tru2Blu76
Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 12:28 a.m.
Oh God, we'll never hear the end of this from MSU fans. Two more football players with 3.0 gpa's than Michigan has. Luckily, this is a truly minor issue - almost in the Worth Ignoring category. First, because regardless of gpa score, the average Michigan player gets into a better paying job than most average citizens, just because they once played for Michigan. Just name, association and being likable is enough to get a better job than most people. Second because MSU may have 13 players who have 3.0 or above - but Michigan State University is ranked 96th in the world among universities of the world. Michigan is ranked: 18th. As with football, Sparty will never catch up to Michigan in academics.
vi4mi4
Wed, Dec 7, 2011 : 10:57 p.m.
..nice.. it'll pay later, Go Blue! v