WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Academic All-Big Ten accolades were awarded to 73 Purdue student-athletes that compete during the spring sports season, recognizing those Boilermakers for maintaining cumulative 3.0-plus grade-point averages.
For the 2025-26 school year, 202 Purdue student-athletes were honored as Academic All-Big Ten achievers – 52 in the fall, 77 in the winter and 73 in the spring.
To be eligible for Academic All-Big Ten, student-athletes must be enrolled full-time at their university for a minimum of 12 months and carry a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher. Big Ten Distinguished Scholar recognition is based on a 3.7-plus yearly or cumulative GPA, also for sophomores and above. Those honorees will be announced later this summer.
Track & Field led the way with a combined 24 Academic All-Big Ten honorees this spring – 12 from both rosters. Baseball had 20 players make the grade at an Academic All-Big Ten level, producing at least 20 honorees for the third time this decade. Additionally, Golf accounted for 13 honorees (seven women, six men), Tennis 10 (five women, four men) and Softball seven.
Eleven Boilermakers from the spring sports season earned Academic All-Big Ten distinction for at least the third time. Among that group, Track & Field’s Praise Aniamaka and Nathan Walker as well as golfer Kentaro Nanayama are four-year honorees. Thirty-six of Purdue’s 73 honorees this spring are now multi-year Academic All-Big Ten achievers.
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3-TIME ACADEMIC ALL-BIG TEN HONOREES |
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MEN’S TRACK & FIELD |
MEN’S GOLF |
The Big Ten also spotlights student-athletes with a 4.0 cumulative GPA as an undergraduate or graduate student. Purdue had four honorees on that list, with Baseball’s Aaron Manias, Track & Field’s Paige Hazelrigg and Women’s Golf’s Lana Malek all maintaining their flawless GPAs at Purdue. Softball’s Haley Painter also compiled a 4.0 GPA while earning a graduate certificate during her All-Big Ten season.
Aniamaka won his fourth career Big Ten title when he was victorious in the triple jump at the Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships last month. He was joined at the NCAA Championships by fellow Academic All-Big Ten honorees Zach Mylenek and Brittannie Johnson.
Baseball’s All-Big Ten honorees – Sam Flores, Dylan Drake and Avery Moore – all made the Academic All-Big Ten list as well. Softball’s Emma Bailey was Purdue Athletics’ female recipient of the Big Ten’s Jackie Robinson Community & Impact Award for the 2025-26 school year. She is now a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree. Softball’s Kyle Franks, who was the third baseman on the on the Big Ten All-Defensive Team, joined teammates Bailey and Painter on the Academic All-Big Ten list.
Academic All-Big Ten achievers Supapon Amornchaichan, Sam Easterbrook, Jenson Forrester and Kentaro Nanayama all helped Men’s Golf qualify for the NCAA Championships again. Easterbrook was an All-Big Ten performer and finished in 16th place at the national championship tournament.
For Women’s Golf, Academic All-Big Ten honorees Samantha Brown, Michaela Headlee, Ashly Kim and Lauren Timpf all were in the lineup for the Boilermakers at the NCAA Regional in Tallahassee. Brown was an All-Big Ten performer.
The Big Ten Conference recognized a total of 2,759 student-athletes as Academic All-Big Ten honorees for the spring and at-large sports season. That total includes 776 from track & field, 234 from baseball, 203 from golf, 195 from softball, 174 from tennis, and 1,177 from the sports that Purdue does not sponsor.
Full listing of Purdue’s spring Academic All-Big Ten Honorees and majors by sport
Student-Athletes in bold have a 4.0 GPA as an undergraduate or graduate student
(Years in parentheses are those in which he or she was Academic All-Big Ten)
BASEBALL (20)
• Eli Anderson – Selling & Sales Management (2025)
• Gavin Beuter – Selling & Sales Management (2025)
• Sergio DeCello – Sociology
• Dylan Drake – Selling & Sales Management
• Zach Erdman – Finance
• Sam Flores – Economics
• Jackson Greer – Construction Management
• Trevor Kester-Johnson – Economics
• Austin Klug – Communication (2025)
• Nick Kolze – Communication (2025)
• Jake Kramer – Financial Counseling & Planning
• Thomas Lynch – Financial Counseling & Planning
• Aaron Manias – Selling & Sales Management (2025)
• Avery Moore – Kinesiology (2025)
• CJ Richmond – Graduate Certificate in Communication & Leadership
• Barron Sawyer – Selling & Sales Management (2025)
• Evan Schweizer – Communication
• Trey Swiderski – Selling & Sales Management
• Cole Van Assen – Educational Studies (2025)
• Zach Zychowski – Selling & Sales Management
MEN’S GOLF (6)
• Supapon Amornchaichan – Selling & Sales Management
• Sam Easterbrook – Management (2025)
• Jenson Forrester – Economics
• Kentaro Nanayama – Master’s in Business Analytics & Information Management (2023, 2024, 2025)
• Yilin Sun – Finance (2024, 2025)
• Andre Zhu – Management
WOMEN’S GOLF (7)
• Samantha Brown – Communication
• Michaela Headlee – Kinesiology
• Alison Hildebrand – Mechanical Engineering (2024, 2025)
• Ashley Kim – Psychology
• Lana Malek – Biological Engineering (2025)
• Lauren Timpf – Communication
• Ella Weber – Management
SOFTBALL (7)
• Emma Bailey – Interior Design Professional (2024, 2025)
• Maura Condon – Selling & Sales Management
• Kylie Franks – Organizational Leadership (2025)
• Julia Gossett – Kinesiology (2025)
• Jensen Krantz – Applied Statistics
• Haley Painter – Graduate Certificate in Healthcare Quality Improvement
• Delaney Reefe – Developmental & Family Science (2025)
MEN’S TENNIS (4)
• Mujtaba Ali-Khan – Kinesiology (2025)
• Maj Premzl – Finance
• Stefan Simeunovic – Business Analytics & Information Management (2025)
• Henrik Villanger – Finance (2025)
WOMEN’S TENNIS (5)
• Ida Clement – Pre-Business Analytics & Information
• Ece Gencer – Kinesiology
• Fatima Gutierrez – Psychological Sciences (2025)
• Ashlie Wilson – Master’s in Business Essentials (2024, 2025)
• Kathryn Wilson – Supply Chain & Operations Management
MEN’S TRACK & FIELD (12)
• Praise Aniamaka – Master’s in Business Analytics & Information Management (2023, 2024, 2025)
• Kiefer Bell – Business Analytics & Information Management
• Douglas Buckeridge – Mathematics Statistics (2025)
• Hugh Jacobsmeyer – Civil Engineering
• Chidozie Kalu – Human Services
• Quintin Lowe – Environmental & Natural Resources Engineering/Agricultural Engineering (2025)
• Leo Maxwell – Accounting (2024, 2025)
• Zach Mylenek – Mechanical Engineering Technology
• Jason Polydoris – Mechanical Engineering/Post Baccalaureate (2023, 2025)
• Elliot Ryba – Aero & Astro Engineering
• Nathan Walker – Mathematics Education/Post Baccalaureate (2023, 2024, 2025)
• Nerius White – Kinesiology
WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD (12)
• Taiye Ayenuro – Explorers
• Gia Clay – Psychological Sciences
• Julia Economou – Biomedical Health Sciences (2025)
• Paige Hazelrigg – Biomedical Health Sciences (2025)
• Layla Henderson – Psychological Sciences
• Britannia Johnson – Hospitality & Tourism Management (2025)
• Britannie Johnson – Hospitality & Tourism Management (2025)
• Elise Peckinpaugh – Psychological Sciences (2025)
• Katherine Rumsey – Mechanical Engineering (2024, 2025)
• Ally Wigand – Biological Engineering (2025)
• Nia Wilson – Civil Engineering (2025)
• Sophia Yon – Industrial Engineering