ROSEMONT, Ill. -- Graduating seniors Manuel Gutierrez and Carly Marshall of swimming and diving have been selected as Purdue athletics' recipients of the annual Big Ten postgraduate scholarships for the 2014-15 school year.
Gutierrez and Marshall will each receive a $7,500 scholarship for their continuing education. Gutierrez is graduating with a 3.87 grade-point average while majoring in electrical engineering. He is set to enroll at MIT this summer in a SM/PhD program in the university's electrical engineering and computer sciences department. Marshall is graduating with a 3.97 GPA while majoring in neurobiology and physiology. She will be continuing her education at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis.
Gutierrez and Marshall join their former teammates Alec LaMothe and Lauren Gustafson as Purdue swimmers to receive Big Ten postgraduate scholarships since the league introduced the academic honor in the spring of 2013. LaMothe and Gustafson were the recipients in 2013. Football's Cody Davis and wrestling's Kyle Mosier were the Boilermakers' honorees last year.
Twenty-nine student-athletes from the 14 Big Ten institutions who plan to continue their education at a graduate degree program were awarded the scholarship, based on primarily academic achievements.
This year's recipients around the conference span 15 different sports and will continue their education in a variety of different disciplines, including athletic administration and sport management, audiology, biomedical engineering, business administration, chemistry, communicative sciences and disorders, dentistry, international affairs, law, medicine, occupational therapy and physical therapy.
Gutierrez and Marshall were among a group of seven swimmers selected as scholarship recipients this year. Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Rutgers also chose to recognize swimmers. Purdue's honorees were first unveiled as part of the Golden Pete Awards on April 26.
Marshall made history this school year when she became the first Purdue student of any kind to be selected as a finalist for the prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship, which is awarded to outstanding students from outside the UK to pursue a full-time postgraduate degree at the University of Cambridge in England. In the pool, she had an NCAA provisional qualifying B Cut in the 50 free this year with a career-best time of 22.98 at the Big Ten Championships. She also swam on the Boilers' 200 free relay team at Big Tens. Marshall is a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree and two-time Distinguished Big Ten Scholar.
Gutierrez served as a captain this season and was among Purdue's most versatile freestyle swimmers, competing regularly in the 200, 500, 1000 and 1650. He is a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree and is likely to be named as a Distinguished Big Ten Scholar again this summer.
Each Big Ten institution developed its own on-campus selection process when awarding the scholarship. Student-athletes must have maintained at least a 3.2 grade-point-average, demonstrated leadership qualities, served as an excellent role model and intended to continue their academic work beyond their baccalaureate degree at a graduate degree program.
The scholarship will be used to pay expenses of the student's postgraduate education to include such related activities as research and teaching, as well as other expenses such as tuition, fees, room and board, required course-related supplies and books. In order to retain the scholarship, the recipient must be accepted into a full-time graduate degree program within three years from the fall semester after selection.
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2014-15 Big Ten Postgraduate Scholarship recipients included:
Illinois
Maurice Watkins, Track and Field
Hailey Booth, Swimming and Diving
Indiana
Will Nolden, Baseball
Rebecca Dreher, Soccer
Iowa
Michael Vinyard, Swimming and Diving
Gabrielle Watson, Rowing
Maryland
Joshua Polacek, Wrestling
Shannon Bustillos, Softball
Michigan
Justin Glanda, Swimming and Diving
Chelsey Miller, Cross Country/Track and Field
Michigan State
Ryan Keener, Soccer
Becca Mills, Basketball
Minnesota
Christopher Johnson, Swimming and Diving
Jessica Plant, Swimming and Diving
Nebraska
John Welk, Track and Field
Amanda Lauer, Gymnastics
Jennifer Lauer, Gymnastics
Northwestern
John Coukos, Wrestling
Julia Kuhn, Softball
Ohio State
Tim Wetzel, Baseball
Chloe Meyer, Rowing
Penn State
Matthew Brown, Wrestling
Katie Rodden, Cross Country/Track and Field
Purdue
Manuel Gutierrez, Swimming and Diving
Carly Marshall, Swimming and Diving
Rutgers
Campbell Sode, Lacrosse
Greta Leberfinger, Swimming and Diving
Wisconsin
Andrew Brekke, Track and Field
Kimberly Dinh, Golf