April 1, 2010
Complete Academic All-Big Ten for Winter Sports 
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - All 10 upperclassmen from the Illinois women's gymnastics squad were named to the Academic All-Big Ten team, the conference announced on Thursday. The 10 honorees are the second most by any Big Ten gymnastics team this season and marks the second consecutive year that all of the upperclassmen from the Illinois women's gymnastics team received the honor.
The Illini honored are seniors Nicole Cowart (accountancy), Sarah Schmidt (kinesiology), Laura Woolf (agri-accounting), and Lori Hamilton (accountancy), juniors Allison Buckley (kinesiology), Melissa Fernandez (kinesiology), Lashlee Morris (kinesiology) and Samantha Perino (psychology), and sophomores Kelsey Joannides (business) and Hannah Welker (broadcast journalism). Nicole Cowart is a three-time honoree, while Schmidt, Woolf and all four juniors earned recognition for the second straight year.
To be eligible for Academic All-Big Ten selection, student-athletes must be letterwinners who are in at least their second academic year at their institution and carry a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher, meaning all women's gymnasts who are eligible for selection are getting the job done in the classroom.
A total of 46 Illinois athletes from six winter sports were named Academic All-Big Ten. Illinois athletes honored include two from men's basketball, two from women's basketball, five from men's gymnastics, 10 from women's gymnastics, 20 from swimming & diving and seven from wrestling. This number tops last year's total of 41 Academic All-Big Ten selections.
The winter honorees include Nissen-Emery finalist (Heisman trophy of men's gymnastics) Luke Stannard, All-American and Big Ten champion John Dergo from wrestling, All-Big Ten honorees Allison Buckley, Sarah Schmidt, Melissa Fernandez and Nicole Cowart from women's gymnastics, and Honorable Mention All-Big Ten selection Mike Tisdale from men's basketball.
