Eastern_Illinois_Panthers_logo.svg

EIU Leads OVC With 48 Academic Medal Of Honor Winners

On Friday it was announced that 349 Ohio Valley Conference student-athletes have earned the OVC Academic Medal of Honor for the 2024-25 academic year.

It marks the second-highest total in league history (trailing only the 356 winners in 2020-21). The total was 37 honorees higher than a year ago.

The OVC Academic Medal of Honor is given annually to the student-athletes who achieve the highest grade point average in a Conference-sponsored sport. Every Academic Medal of Honor recipient for the 2024-25 academic year carried a perfect 4.0 grade point average.

Of the 349 award winners, 60 were awarded Academic Medals of Honor for multiple sports (and counted just once in the final recipients list).

Eastern Illinois and Lindenwood tied for the most selections with 48, followed closely by Southeast Missouri (47). The sport of women’s soccer had the most honorees league-wide (65), followed by women’s track and field (64) and softball (40).

Eastern Illinois has now had 362 OVC Academic Medal of Honor Award winners over the last nine years, the highest total in the OVC. The Panthers have led the conference in seven of the last ten academic years, finishing second in number of OVC Medal of Honor winners in the other three academic years.

Over the past fi ve years there have been over 1,590 student-athletes earn the OVC Academic Medal of Honor.

The OVC will announce the recipients of the Commissioner’s Honor Roll, the Academic Achievement Award and the Team Academic Achievement Awards next week.

EIU OVC Academic Medal Of Honor Award Winners
Baseball: Nate Marshall, Sam Wiese
Men’s Basketball: Kooper Jacobi
Women’s Basketball: Lyric Johnson, Jayda Johnston
Beach Volleyball: Katie Kopshever
Men’s Cross Country: Michael Atkiuns, Aidan Gonzalez, Joe Stoddard, Mason Stoeger
Women’s Cross Country: Mackenzie Aldridge, Isabel Arthur, Anna Bieber, Rylea Borgic, Rachel Koon, Sophie Krueger, Macie Russell, Kaitlyn Ward
Football: Bryce Burnett, Payton Orth
Women’s Golf: Morgan Grant
Men’s Soccer: Sam Eccles
Women’s Soccer: Colleen Bauer, Kate Germano, Brooklynn Greene, Hadley Hendrickson, Ashlyn Hoover, Kylie Mahoney, Ashley Petersen, Abby Reinl, Avery Richardson, Kya Trejo
Softball: Sophie Cerveny, Alisha Frederick, Kendall Grover, Emily Konkel, Maddux Marshall, Karlie McKenzie
Women’s Tennis: Emma Pilipovic-Kljajic
Men’s Track & Field: Enoch Appiah-Kubi, Michael Atkins, Porter Conroy, Joseph Fisher, Aidan Gonzalez, Jacob Maxwell, Ryan Palmer, Joseph Stoddard, Mason Stoeger
Women’s Track & Field: Mackenzie Aldridge, Isabel Arthur, Anna Bieber, Rylea Borgic, Isabella Fabrizio, Rachel Koon, Sophia Krueger, Makenna McBride, Macie Russell, Taryn Tarquin, Hallee Thomas, Kaitlyn Ward
Volleyball: Katie Kopshever

Latest News Stories

Trucking industry leader: New law may drive business out of Illinois

Trucking industry leader: New law may drive business out of Illinois

By Jim Talamonti | The Center SquareThe Center Square (The Center Square) – A trucking industry leader says more businesses may leave Illinois after the signing of Senate Bill 328....
DEA targets drug smuggling corridors in work with Mexico

DEA targets drug smuggling corridors in work with Mexico

By Brett RowlandThe Center Square Drug Enforcement Administration officials plan to work with their counterparts in Mexico to target the gatekeepers of the smuggling corridors between the two nations. The...
Planned restart of California oil production faces legal challenges

Planned restart of California oil production faces legal challenges

By Alton WallaceThe Center Square Oil and gas production resumed on May 15 that had been out of service for 10 years after an oil spill off the California coast,...
Derailment disrupts train service for Chicago, New York, Washington, Miami

Derailment disrupts train service for Chicago, New York, Washington, Miami

By Alan Wooten | The Center SquareThe Center Square (The Center Square) – Passenger train service involving routes to Chicago, Miami and New York is on hold because of a...
Senate pledges economic support for Russia-Ukraine deal as govt funding talks stall

Senate pledges economic support for Russia-Ukraine deal as govt funding talks stall

By Thérèse BoudreauxThe Center Square As Republicans and Democrats remain deadlocked over how to fund the government for fiscal 2026 and prevent a shutdown, Senate leaders remain united on one...
Democratic candidates focus on national politics in campaign for U.S. Senate

Democratic candidates focus on national politics in campaign for U.S. Senate

By Jim Talamonti | The Center SquareThe Center Square (The Center Square) – Illinois’ Democratic Party candidates for U.S. Senate have focused their campaigns on opposition to Republicans and President...
Arizona Chamber praises new interstate natural gas pipeline

Arizona Chamber praises new interstate natural gas pipeline

By Chris WoodwardThe Center Square The Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry is excited about the future, thanks to a deal between state utilities and Transwestern Pipeline Co. The company...
Dems oppose Trump's bid to end mail-in ballots, voting machines

Dems oppose Trump’s bid to end mail-in ballots, voting machines

By Thérèse BoudreauxThe Center Square Casting a ballot may look different for millions of American voters in the 2026 midterm elections if Republican-led states follow President Donald Trump’s wish to...
After two weeks fleeing Texas, House Democrats return, quorum reached

After two weeks fleeing Texas, House Democrats return, quorum reached

By Bethany BlankleyThe Center Square After two weeks fleeing the state, many Texas House Democrats returned, and a quorum was reached on Monday. More than two dozen Democrats still didn’t...
Trump says court's tariff decision could lead to 'catastrophic' collapse

Trump says court’s tariff decision could lead to ‘catastrophic’ collapse

By Brett RowlandThe Center Square Attorneys for President Donald Trump told judges that if they yank the president's tariff authority, "catastrophic consequences" would ensue, including a deep economic collapse not...
Trump: Zelenskyy could end Russia-Ukraine war ‘if he wants to’

Trump: Zelenskyy could end Russia-Ukraine war ‘if he wants to’

By Caroline BodaThe Center Square Ahead of the summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders in Washington on Monday, President Donald Trump said Ukraine should give up...
$750 million facility to protect Texas cattle, wildlife from screwworm threat

$750 million facility to protect Texas cattle, wildlife from screwworm threat

By Bethany BlankleyThe Center Square Responding to calls by state lawmakers and the agricultural industry for immediate action to be taken to protect cattle and wildlife from a parasitic fly,...
Chicago posts fewest homicides since 2016, arrests rate also declines

Chicago posts fewest homicides since 2016, arrests rate also declines

By Glenn Minnis | The Center Square contributorThe Center Square (The Center Square) – Illinois state Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, studies Chicago’s somewhat mixed-bag crime trend data with little question...
Three years later, Inflation Reduction Act blamed for higher Medicare costs

Three years later, Inflation Reduction Act blamed for higher Medicare costs

By Tom JoyceThe Center Square This past weekend marked the third anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by former President Joe Biden in 2022. While the law...
Illinois quick hits: Prosecutors charge two more in Tren de Aragua case; Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee meets today; Illinois Little League team loses in World Series

Illinois quick hits: Prosecutors charge two more in Tren de Aragua case; Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee meets today; Illinois Little League team loses in World Series

By Jim Talamonti | The Center SquareThe Center Square Prosecutors charge two more in Tren de Aragua case State prosecutors have charged two more migrants as part of an investigation...