WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Eight upperclassmen for Purdue Swimming & Diving, all having made the grade to the tune of 3.6-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…
• Fifth-year swimmer Kendra Bowen (Carmel, Ind.) – 3.64 GPA earning her bachelor's degree in selling & sales management and currently pursuing a graduate certificate in communication & leadership
• Junior swimmer Luke Fortner (Apex, N.C.) – 3.99 GPA as an aeronautical & astronautical engineering major
• Senior swimmer Aaron Frollo (Fishers, Ind.) – 3.94 GPA as a computer engineering major
• Junior swimmer Maggie Love (Carmel, Ind.) – 3.62 GPA as a biomedical engineering major
• Junior diver Sophie McAfee (San Marino, Calif.) – 3.89 GPA as an economics major
• Senior swimmer Ethan Shaw (Dublin, Ohio) – 3.81 GPA as a supply chain & sales engineering technology major
• Fifth-year diver Maycey Vieta (Blacklick, Ohio) – 3.79 GPA earning her bachelor's degree as a media & mass communication major and currently pursuing a graduate certificate in communication & leadership
• Senior swimmer Andrew Witty (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) – 3.94 GPA as a mechanical engineering major
All eight Boilermakers now advance to the Academic All-America ballot. They were all named Academic All-Big Ten earlier this month and most will be among Purdue Athletics' Big Ten Distinguished Scholars when the league announces those honorees over the summer.
Frollo, Vieta and Witty were all recognized as Academic All-District for the second year in a row.
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 3.33 team GPA during the 2023 fall semester and the men were honored for their 3.36 team mark.
The Academic All-District and Academic All-America program underwent 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 after the 2021-22 school year. 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 the current name for the organization formerly known CoSIDA – College Sports Information Directors of America.
McAfee and Vieta were All-Americans again this season. McAfee became Purdue's fourth female diver to finish top eight on both a springboard (3-meter) and the platform at the NCAA Championships in the same year. She also finished top 10 in all three diving events at the Big Ten Championships for the third consecutive year.
Vieta earned her fourth career All-America on the tower at NCAAs and finished top four in the event at Big Tens for the fifth year in a row. She joined the program's elite list of four-year NCAAs qualifiers and will represent Puerto Rico in 10-meter diving at the Olympic Games this summer.
Love eclipsed Purdue's program record in the 200 individual medley that had stood since 2012, making it the longest-standing mark in the record book at the time. Bowen swam on the maximum four relays at the Big Ten Championships. She and Love are three-year scorers at Big Tens.
For the men, Frollo and Shaw scored in all three of their individual events at Big Tens this season. Shaw did so for the second year in a row and finished his career as a three-year scorer at Big Tens.
Also at Big Tens, Shaw posted lifetime bests in the 200 and 500 freestyle as well as the 200 butterfly. Frollo did likewise in the 500 and 1650 free. The seniors moved up the program's all-time leaderboards in all instances.
Witty was chosen to swim the breaststroke leg on the 200 and 400 medley relays team at Big Tens, earning the distinction in the 200 for the second year in a row. Individually, he scored in the 100 and 200 breaststroke again, moving up Purdue's all-time leaderboard with his lifetime best in the 200.
Fortner sports the top cumulative GPA among all of Purdue's active male student-athletes. He represented the Boilermakers at the CSCAA National Invitational Championship for the second year in a row.
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…
• Fifth-year swimmer Kendra Bowen (Carmel, Ind.) – 3.64 GPA earning her bachelor's degree in selling & sales management and currently pursuing a graduate certificate in communication & leadership
• Junior swimmer Luke Fortner (Apex, N.C.) – 3.99 GPA as an aeronautical & astronautical engineering major
• Senior swimmer Aaron Frollo (Fishers, Ind.) – 3.94 GPA as a computer engineering major
• Junior swimmer Maggie Love (Carmel, Ind.) – 3.62 GPA as a biomedical engineering major
• Junior diver Sophie McAfee (San Marino, Calif.) – 3.89 GPA as an economics major
• Senior swimmer Ethan Shaw (Dublin, Ohio) – 3.81 GPA as a supply chain & sales engineering technology major
• Fifth-year diver Maycey Vieta (Blacklick, Ohio) – 3.79 GPA earning her bachelor's degree as a media & mass communication major and currently pursuing a graduate certificate in communication & leadership
• Senior swimmer Andrew Witty (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) – 3.94 GPA as a mechanical engineering major
All eight Boilermakers now advance to the Academic All-America ballot. They were all named Academic All-Big Ten earlier this month and most will be among Purdue Athletics' Big Ten Distinguished Scholars when the league announces those honorees over the summer.
Frollo, Vieta and Witty were all recognized as Academic All-District for the second year in a row.
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 3.33 team GPA during the 2023 fall semester and the men were honored for their 3.36 team mark.
The Academic All-District and Academic All-America program underwent 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 after the 2021-22 school year. 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 the current name for the organization formerly known CoSIDA – College Sports Information Directors of America.
McAfee and Vieta were All-Americans again this season. McAfee became Purdue's fourth female diver to finish top eight on both a springboard (3-meter) and the platform at the NCAA Championships in the same year. She also finished top 10 in all three diving events at the Big Ten Championships for the third consecutive year.
Vieta earned her fourth career All-America on the tower at NCAAs and finished top four in the event at Big Tens for the fifth year in a row. She joined the program's elite list of four-year NCAAs qualifiers and will represent Puerto Rico in 10-meter diving at the Olympic Games this summer.
Love eclipsed Purdue's program record in the 200 individual medley that had stood since 2012, making it the longest-standing mark in the record book at the time. Bowen swam on the maximum four relays at the Big Ten Championships. She and Love are three-year scorers at Big Tens.
For the men, Frollo and Shaw scored in all three of their individual events at Big Tens this season. Shaw did so for the second year in a row and finished his career as a three-year scorer at Big Tens.
Also at Big Tens, Shaw posted lifetime bests in the 200 and 500 freestyle as well as the 200 butterfly. Frollo did likewise in the 500 and 1650 free. The seniors moved up the program's all-time leaderboards in all instances.
Witty was chosen to swim the breaststroke leg on the 200 and 400 medley relays team at Big Tens, earning the distinction in the 200 for the second year in a row. Individually, he scored in the 100 and 200 breaststroke again, moving up Purdue's all-time leaderboard with his lifetime best in the 200.
Fortner sports the top cumulative GPA among all of Purdue's active male student-athletes. He represented the Boilermakers at the CSCAA National Invitational Championship for the second year in a row.
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.