General | December 20, 2019

CLEVELAND – Seven Western Michigan student-athletes from four sports are among 69 Mid-American Conference Distinguished Scholar Athletes honored for their accomplishments this fall, the conference announced Friday.

Any fall sports student-athlete with a 3.20 grade-point average and who participated in at least 50 percent of the contests was automatically named to the sport's previously announced Academic All-MAC Team. First-year students, junior college transfers and graduate transfers in their first year of residence were not eligible for the award.

New for this season, Distinguished Scholar Athletes include all student-athletes who were recognized as All-MAC and Academic All-MAC selections and maintained a 3.50 GPA or above. Previously, voting by MAC Faculty Athletic Representatives determined Distinguished Scholar Athletes.  MAC membership voted for the change in recognizing the Distinguished Scholar Athletes during the conference spring meetings in June of 2019.

Men's soccer senior midfielder Anthony Bowie earned his third career Distinguished Scholar Athlete recognition. Already this year, Bowie achieved the highest academic honor a collegian can earn as he was named the 2019 Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year for NCAA Division I men's soccer by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Bowie, a product of Grand Rapids, Mich., received second team all-league accolades after recording four game-winning goals, tied for the conference lead. He graduated December 14, 2019, with a 4.0 GPA in sales and business marketing. 

The women's soccer duo of Bailey Korhorn and Morgan Otteson earned their first career Distinguished Scholar Athlete nods. Korhorn, a junior midfielder who earned second team All-MAC accolades, finished the conference season with eight points in 10 games on three goals and two assists. The Grand Rapids, Mich., product owns a 3.93 GPA as a sports management major. Sophomore forward Otteson was a first team all-league selection after tying for the MAC lead in goals with eight and game-winning goals with four. Another Grand Rapids, Mich., native, Otteson holds a 3.65 GPA as a business management major.

Junior volleyball outside hitter Rachel Bontrager picked up her second career Distinguished Scholar Athlete award, registering a 3.74 GPA in elementary professional education. In November, the Valparaiso, Ind., native was named first team All-MAC for the second straight year after leading the conference with 414 kills. She earned double-digit kills in 25 of WMU's 28 matches, including a career-high 17 straight matches from Sept. 20-Nov. 9.

The football trio of Mike Caliendo, Luke Juriga and Jon Wassink wrapped up WMU's selections as each received his third career Distinguished Scholar Athlete honor. Caliendo, a junior offensive lineman from Brookfield, Wis., with a 3.89 GPA as a biomedical sciences major, was named second team all-league and earned CoSIDA Academic All-District 5 first team accolades. Juriga, a four-time Academic All-MAC honoree and two-time first team all-league choice, owns a 3.64 GPA as a manufacturing engineering technology major. Juriga, a native of Aurora, Ill., received his degree from Western Michigan on December 14, 2019. Wassink received the 2019 National Football Foundation National Scholar-Athlete Award and the Wuerffel Trophy. The Grand Rapids, Mich., product was also named third team all-league and joined Caliendo on the CoSIDA Academic All-District 5 first team. Wassink graduated from Western Michigan in December of 2018 with a 3.95 GPA in accountancy.

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