BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Sophie Jackson (Jr., West Yorkshire, England/The Crossley Heath Grammar School), Ava Morrant (Jr., Maple Ridge, British Columbia/Maple Ridge Secondary School), Erin Neustrom (Jr., Moraga, Calif./Campolindo), Maddie O’Reilly (Sr., Villanova, Pa./The Episcopal Academy) and Emily Ritner (Sr., Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar) of the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Champion University of Michigan Wolverines are among 119 student-athletes from the institution to earn the distinction of 2020-21 Big Ten Distinguished Scholars.
Presented by the Big Ten Conference, the Big Ten Distinguished Scholar honor goes to student-athletes who recorded a grade-point average of 3.7 or higher for the previous academic year.
Overall, the women’s water polo team’s five honors top Michigan’s selections in baseball (one), men’s basketball (three), women’s basketball (one), field hockey (three), football (two), men’s golf (one), women’s golf (two), ice hockey (one), women’s lacrosse (one), men’s soccer (four), softball (two), men’s swimming & diving (two), men’s tennis (four), women’s tennis (one), volleyball (one) and wrestling (four). The equal to men’s cross country (five), women’s water polo tied for the ninth most selections among 26 Wolverines’ teams as women’s cross country (11), men’s gymnastics (seven), women’s gymnastics (seven), rowing (20), women’s soccer (10), women’s swimming & diving (12), men’s track & field (11) and women’s track & field (14) led the way.
