Big Ten Announces 2016 Field Hockey Preseason Honors

SOURCE: BigTen.org
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Aug. 22, 2016

ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference announced its 2016 field hockey preseason honors on Monday, highlighted by nine All-Big Ten selections from last season.

Three first-team All-Big Ten students from the 2015 campaign headline this year’s preseason choices – Indiana’s Kate Barber, Michigan’s Sam Swenson and Penn State’s Aurelia Meijer. Preseason honorees who earned second-team All-Big Ten recognition last season include Indiana’s Noëlle Rother, Iowa’s Chandler Ackers, Maryland’s Linnea Gonzales and Welma Luus, Ohio State’s Maddy Humphrey and Rutgers’ Linde van Schaik.

Rutgers’ Alyssa Bull is a three-time Big Ten preseason honoree while Indiana’s Barber, Iowa’s Ackers and Natalie Cafone, Maryland’s Gonzales, Michigan’s Katie Trombetta, Michigan State’s Kristin Matula and Simone Vagnoni, Ohio State’s Humphrey and Rutgers’ Sofia Walia receive the distinction for the second time.

Several members of the 2016 Big Ten field hockey preseason honors list excelled academically with 14 students earning Academic All-Big Ten accolades last year. In addition, Indiana’s Morgan Dye, Michigan State’s Matula, Northwestern’s Isabel Flens and Ohio State’s Liz Tamburro were 2016 Big Ten Distinguished Scholars.

The 2016 season officially starts this weekend with all nine conference teams in action. Indiana, Maryland, Michigan State, Northwestern, Penn State and Rutgers begin their seasons on Friday, while Iowa, Michigan and Ohio State start their campaigns on Saturday.

The complete list of 2016 Big Ten field hockey preseason honorees appears below.

 

2016 Big Ten Field Hockey Preseason Honors

Name School Yr. Position Hometown
Kate Barber*^@ Indiana Sr. Defense/Midfield St. Louis, Mo.
Morgan Dye @ Indiana Sr. Forward/Midfield Powell, Ohio
Noëlle Rother # Indiana So. Goalkeeper Hamburg, Germany
Chandler Ackers*#@ Iowa Sr. Defense/Midfield White Haven, Pa.
Natalie Cafone Iowa Sr. Forward Fairfield, N.J.
Melissa Progar @ Iowa Jr. Midfield Yorktown, Va.
Linnea Gonzales*# Maryland So. Forward/Midfield Bel Air, Md.
Lein Holsboer @ Maryland Jr. Midfield Hilversum, Netherlands
Welma Luus #@ Maryland Gr. Forward Pretoria, South Africa
Bree Bednarski Michigan Fr. Forward Wyoming, Pa.
Sam Swenson^@ Michigan Jr. Goalkeeper Harrogate, England
Katie Trombetta* Michigan Jr. Midfield/Defense Holbrook, N.Y.
Kendal Anderson Michigan State Jr. Midfield Shaker Heights, Ohio
Kristin Matula*@ Michigan State Sr. Midfield Louisville, Ky.
Simone Vagnoni*@ Michigan State Jr. Defense Collegeville, Pa.
Elena Curley Northwestern Jr. Midfield Louisville, Ky.
Isabel Flens @ Northwestern Sr. Midfield/Forward Hattem, Netherlands
Dominique Masters Northwestern Sr. Midfield Canterbury, United Kingdom
Maddy Humphrey*# Ohio State Jr. Forward/Midfield Virginia Beach, Va.
Liz Tamburro @ Ohio State Jr. Goalkeeper Phoenixville, Pa.
Carolina Vergroesen Ohio State Jr. Midfield/Defense Amsterdam, Netherlands
Kirsten Gochnauer @ Penn State Sr. Forward/Midfield Mount Joy, Pa.
Aurelia Meijer^ Penn State So. Midfield/Forward Hattem, Netherlands
Jenny Rizzo Penn State So. Goalkeeper Hershey, Pa.
Alyssa Bull*@ Rutgers Sr. Midfield Oakville, Ontario
Linde van Schaik # Rutgers So. Midfield Amsterdam, Netherlands
Sofia Walia*@ Rutgers Sr. Defense Surrey, British Columbia

* denotes 2015 Big Ten preseason honoree
^ denotes 2015 All-Big Ten First Team
# denotes 2015 All-Big Ten Second Team
@ denotes 2015 Academic All-Big Ten

-View Original Release at BigTen.org-