WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Eight members of Purdue Swimming & Diving, all having made the grade with 3.5-plus cumulative grade-point averages, have earned spots on the Academic All-District Team as selected by the College Sports Communicators.
Representing Purdue Swimming & Diving includes…
• Fifth-year diver Jenna Sonnenberg (Long Beach, Calif) – 3.97 GPA, earning her bachelor's degree in law & society and currently pursuing a graduate certificate in communication & leadership
• Senior swimmer Luke Fortner (Apex, N.C.) – 3.89 GPA as an aeronautical & astronautical engineering major
• Senior diver Sophie McAfee (San Marino, Calif.) – 3.89 GPA as an economics major
• Senior swimmer Idris Muhammad (Atlanta, Ga.) – 3.53 GPA as a mechanical engineering major
• Junior diver Daryn Wright (Plainfield, Ind.) – 3.52 GPA as a retail management major
• Sophomore swimmer Mason Kajfosz (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) – 3.87 GPA as a mechanical engineering technology major
• Sophomore swimmer Kate Mouser (Indianapolis, Ind.) – 3.78 GPA as a professional flight technology/aviation management major
• Sophomore diver Max Miller (Conroe, Texas) – 3.69 GPA as a general management major
All eight Boilermakers now advance to the Academic All-America ballot. They were all named Academic All-Big Ten earlier this month and many will be among Purdue Athletics' Big Ten Distinguished Scholars when the league announces those honorees over the summer.
McAfee and Fortner were recognized as Academic All-District for the second year in a row. Sonnenberg also earned the second honor of her career after being among the Purdue women's quartet in 2023.
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 3.49 team GPA during the 2024 fall semester and the men were honored for their 3.15 team mark.
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.
McAfee, Miller, Sonnenberg and Wright were All-Americans this season. McAfee, Miller and Wright achieved All-America status in both of their events at the NCAA Championships. Sonnenberg qualified for NCAAs in all three events for the first time in her career and was an All-American on platform in her final collegiate event. McAfee and Wright were championship finalists on platform at NCAAs for the second year in a row. They've both been full-fledged (top 8) All-Americans on a springboard and the platform during their careers.
All four women's honorees scored in all three of their individual events at the Big Ten Championships, with Wright finishing top five in all three diving events. McAfee, Muhammad and Sonnenberg are all four-year scorers at Big Tens.
Fortner posted lifetime bests in both breaststroke events at Big Tens, closing out his career with top-15 times in team history. Muhammad closed out his career ranked among the top six in Purdue history in the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke. He was a key contributor to relays all four years.
Mouser moved up Purdue's all-time leaderboards with her lifetime bests in the 400 IM, 200 butterfly, 200 free and 500 free.
McAfee (3-meter) and Wright (platform) set team records at the Purdue Invitational and medaled on 10-meter at the USA Diving Winter Nationals the following month.
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.
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 diver Jenna Sonnenberg (Long Beach, Calif) – 3.97 GPA, earning her bachelor's degree in law & society and currently pursuing a graduate certificate in communication & leadership
• Senior swimmer Luke Fortner (Apex, N.C.) – 3.89 GPA as an aeronautical & astronautical engineering major
• Senior diver Sophie McAfee (San Marino, Calif.) – 3.89 GPA as an economics major
• Senior swimmer Idris Muhammad (Atlanta, Ga.) – 3.53 GPA as a mechanical engineering major
• Junior diver Daryn Wright (Plainfield, Ind.) – 3.52 GPA as a retail management major
• Sophomore swimmer Mason Kajfosz (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) – 3.87 GPA as a mechanical engineering technology major
• Sophomore swimmer Kate Mouser (Indianapolis, Ind.) – 3.78 GPA as a professional flight technology/aviation management major
• Sophomore diver Max Miller (Conroe, Texas) – 3.69 GPA as a general management major
All eight Boilermakers now advance to the Academic All-America ballot. They were all named Academic All-Big Ten earlier this month and many will be among Purdue Athletics' Big Ten Distinguished Scholars when the league announces those honorees over the summer.
McAfee and Fortner were recognized as Academic All-District for the second year in a row. Sonnenberg also earned the second honor of her career after being among the Purdue women's quartet in 2023.
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 3.49 team GPA during the 2024 fall semester and the men were honored for their 3.15 team mark.
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.
McAfee, Miller, Sonnenberg and Wright were All-Americans this season. McAfee, Miller and Wright achieved All-America status in both of their events at the NCAA Championships. Sonnenberg qualified for NCAAs in all three events for the first time in her career and was an All-American on platform in her final collegiate event. McAfee and Wright were championship finalists on platform at NCAAs for the second year in a row. They've both been full-fledged (top 8) All-Americans on a springboard and the platform during their careers.
All four women's honorees scored in all three of their individual events at the Big Ten Championships, with Wright finishing top five in all three diving events. McAfee, Muhammad and Sonnenberg are all four-year scorers at Big Tens.
Fortner posted lifetime bests in both breaststroke events at Big Tens, closing out his career with top-15 times in team history. Muhammad closed out his career ranked among the top six in Purdue history in the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke. He was a key contributor to relays all four years.
Mouser moved up Purdue's all-time leaderboards with her lifetime bests in the 400 IM, 200 butterfly, 200 free and 500 free.
McAfee (3-meter) and Wright (platform) set team records at the Purdue Invitational and medaled on 10-meter at the USA Diving Winter Nationals the following month.
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.
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.