WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Eight upperclassmen for Purdue swimming & diving, all having made the grade to the tune of 3.7-plus cumulative grade-point averages, represented the Boilermakers on the Academic All-District Team as selected by the College Sports Communicators.
Representing Purdue swimming & diving includes…
• Senior swimmer Kat Mueller (Batavia, Ill.) – 4.0 GPA as a social studies education major
• Junior diver Jenna Sonnenberg (Long Beach, Calif.) – 3.99 GPA as a law & society major
• Junior swimmer Aaron Frollo (Fishers, Ind.) – 3.98 GPA as a computer engineering major
• Senior swimmer and Purdue graduate Skyler Younkin (West Richland, Wash.) – 3.93 GPA earning his bachelor's degree in general management and currently pursuing a graduate certificate in geospatial information science
• Junior swimmer Andrew Witty (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) – 3.92 GPA as a mechanical engineering major
• Fifth-year diver and Purdue graduate Maggie Merriman (Orlando, Fla.) – 3.78 GPA earning her bachelor's degree in human services and currently pursuing another bachelor's degree in nursing
• Senior swimmer Blake Ratliff (Fishers, Ind.) – 3.75 GPA as a biology major
• Senior diver Maycey Vieta (Blacklick, Ohio) – 3.74 GPA as a media & mass communication major
All eight Boilermakers now advance to the Academic All-America ballot. They'll all be named Academic All-Big Ten again later this month as well.
Together, these exemplary student-athletes once again helped Purdue earn Scholar All-America Team honors from the College Swimming Coaches Association this winter. The women were recognized for a 3.43 team GPA during the 2022 fall semester and the men were honored for their 3.34 team mark. The Big Ten had all eight of its men's teams recognized by the CSCAA.
The Academic All-District and Academic All-America program overwent an overhaul in the summer of 2022. Among the changes was the creation of swimming & diving-specific Academic All-District and Academic All-America teams. Previously, swimming & diving was part of the at-large group with golf, tennis, wrestling, ice hockey and a variety of other sports. Swimming & diving annually produced the most Academic All-District & All-America selections on the at-large ballot and thus the decision to spotlight the sport individually like the majority of the other prominent team sports as well as track & field/cross country.
The Academic All-District selection process also received a significant overhaul across all sports. The minimum GPA requirement was raised from 3.3 to 3.5 – with freshmen remaining ineligible. Instead of voting for Academic All-District honorees for the eight districts (regions of the country) at the NCAA Division I level, each university now designates a selected number of eligible student-athletes to be recognized as Academic All-District and automatically advance to the Academic All-America ballot. That number of honorees for swimming & diving was set at four per gender.
The Academic All-District and Academic All-America programs continue to strive to spotlight student-athletes that achieve dual success in athletic and academic accomplishments. College Sports Communicators (CSC) is also a new name for the organization formerly known CoSIDA – College Sports Information Directors of America.
When she was recognized a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar in July, Mueller was one of only two Purdue student-athletes in the class of 2023 to have maintained a flawless 4.0 cumulative GPA. She's on pace to graduate with a 4.0 in May. She ranks among Purdue's all-time fastest in both the 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly.
Vieta won a Big Ten title and her third career medal in platform diving at the Big Ten Championships this season. She teamed with four-year medalist Maggie Merriman for a 1-2 finish in the event. Both Boilermakers are also multi-year All-Americans and have competed on the tower at the World Championships.
Sonnenberg is an NCAA Championships qualifier and multi-year scorer at Big Tens. She was a championship finalist on 3-meter at Big Tens this season.
For the men, Frollo, Ratliff, Witty and Younkin have all scored at Big Tens during their careers.
Frollo posted three career-best times in the distance events at Big Tens this season, all elevating him up the program's all-time leaderboards. He scored in the 500 and 1650 free this season.
Witty was chosen to swim the breaststroke leg on the 200 medley relay team at Big Tens this season and helped the quartet post the second-fastest time in team history. Individually, he scored in the 100 and 200 breaststroke. The junior ranks among the all-time leaderboards in both events.
Younkin ranks No. 2 in team history in the 200 fly and 14th in the 100 fly. He was a three-year scorer at Big Tens, matching his career-best time in the 100 fly this season.
Ratliff ranks among the Purdue all-time fastest in the 400 individual medley. He scored in multiple events when Purdue hosted the Big Ten Championships last season. The senior was Purdue's Big Ten Sportsmanship honoree this year.
From 2010 to 2022 when Academic All-District student-athletes were selected via a regional vote as part of the competitive at-large category, Purdue swimming & diving produced at least one honoree every season. Christine Inman (2010), Lauren Gustafson (2013), Jamie Bissett (2014-15), Marat Amaltdinov (2017-18) and Ben Bramley (2021-22) all went on to earn Academic All-America accolades.
Representing Purdue swimming & diving includes…
• Senior swimmer Kat Mueller (Batavia, Ill.) – 4.0 GPA as a social studies education major
• Junior diver Jenna Sonnenberg (Long Beach, Calif.) – 3.99 GPA as a law & society major
• Junior swimmer Aaron Frollo (Fishers, Ind.) – 3.98 GPA as a computer engineering major
• Senior swimmer and Purdue graduate Skyler Younkin (West Richland, Wash.) – 3.93 GPA earning his bachelor's degree in general management and currently pursuing a graduate certificate in geospatial information science
• Junior swimmer Andrew Witty (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) – 3.92 GPA as a mechanical engineering major
• Fifth-year diver and Purdue graduate Maggie Merriman (Orlando, Fla.) – 3.78 GPA earning her bachelor's degree in human services and currently pursuing another bachelor's degree in nursing
• Senior swimmer Blake Ratliff (Fishers, Ind.) – 3.75 GPA as a biology major
• Senior diver Maycey Vieta (Blacklick, Ohio) – 3.74 GPA as a media & mass communication major
All eight Boilermakers now advance to the Academic All-America ballot. They'll all be named Academic All-Big Ten again later this month as well.
Together, these exemplary student-athletes once again helped Purdue earn Scholar All-America Team honors from the College Swimming Coaches Association this winter. The women were recognized for a 3.43 team GPA during the 2022 fall semester and the men were honored for their 3.34 team mark. The Big Ten had all eight of its men's teams recognized by the CSCAA.
The Academic All-District and Academic All-America program overwent an overhaul in the summer of 2022. Among the changes was the creation of swimming & diving-specific Academic All-District and Academic All-America teams. Previously, swimming & diving was part of the at-large group with golf, tennis, wrestling, ice hockey and a variety of other sports. Swimming & diving annually produced the most Academic All-District & All-America selections on the at-large ballot and thus the decision to spotlight the sport individually like the majority of the other prominent team sports as well as track & field/cross country.
The Academic All-District selection process also received a significant overhaul across all sports. The minimum GPA requirement was raised from 3.3 to 3.5 – with freshmen remaining ineligible. Instead of voting for Academic All-District honorees for the eight districts (regions of the country) at the NCAA Division I level, each university now designates a selected number of eligible student-athletes to be recognized as Academic All-District and automatically advance to the Academic All-America ballot. That number of honorees for swimming & diving was set at four per gender.
The Academic All-District and Academic All-America programs continue to strive to spotlight student-athletes that achieve dual success in athletic and academic accomplishments. College Sports Communicators (CSC) is also a new name for the organization formerly known CoSIDA – College Sports Information Directors of America.
When she was recognized a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar in July, Mueller was one of only two Purdue student-athletes in the class of 2023 to have maintained a flawless 4.0 cumulative GPA. She's on pace to graduate with a 4.0 in May. She ranks among Purdue's all-time fastest in both the 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly.
Vieta won a Big Ten title and her third career medal in platform diving at the Big Ten Championships this season. She teamed with four-year medalist Maggie Merriman for a 1-2 finish in the event. Both Boilermakers are also multi-year All-Americans and have competed on the tower at the World Championships.
Sonnenberg is an NCAA Championships qualifier and multi-year scorer at Big Tens. She was a championship finalist on 3-meter at Big Tens this season.
For the men, Frollo, Ratliff, Witty and Younkin have all scored at Big Tens during their careers.
Frollo posted three career-best times in the distance events at Big Tens this season, all elevating him up the program's all-time leaderboards. He scored in the 500 and 1650 free this season.
Witty was chosen to swim the breaststroke leg on the 200 medley relay team at Big Tens this season and helped the quartet post the second-fastest time in team history. Individually, he scored in the 100 and 200 breaststroke. The junior ranks among the all-time leaderboards in both events.
Younkin ranks No. 2 in team history in the 200 fly and 14th in the 100 fly. He was a three-year scorer at Big Tens, matching his career-best time in the 100 fly this season.
Ratliff ranks among the Purdue all-time fastest in the 400 individual medley. He scored in multiple events when Purdue hosted the Big Ten Championships last season. The senior was Purdue's Big Ten Sportsmanship honoree this year.
From 2010 to 2022 when Academic All-District student-athletes were selected via a regional vote as part of the competitive at-large category, Purdue swimming & diving produced at least one honoree every season. Christine Inman (2010), Lauren Gustafson (2013), Jamie Bissett (2014-15), Marat Amaltdinov (2017-18) and Ben Bramley (2021-22) all went on to earn Academic All-America accolades.