The following is a press release courtesy of Purdue University:
Purdue’s Bissett and Tweardy Earn Big Ten Medal of Honor
Boilermaker duo joins elite company as part of 101st Big Ten Medal of Honor class
ROSEMONT, Ill. – As the Big Ten continues its celebration for the 101st class of the Big Ten Medal of Honor, Purdue announced that Jamie Bissett and MacKenzie Tweardy of the men’s and women’s diving teams, respectively, have been named the Boilermakers’ 2014-15 Big Ten Medal of Honor recipients.
The Big Ten, the nation’s oldest collegiate conference, commemorates the 101st anniversary of a very unique tradition – the Big Ten Medal of Honor. The conference’s most exclusive award was the first of its kind in intercollegiate athletics to recognize academic and athletic excellence. The Big Ten Medal of Honor was first awarded in 1915 to one student-athlete from the graduating class of each university who had “attained the greatest proficiency in athletics and scholastic work.” Big Ten schools currently feature almost 9,500 student-athletes, but only 28 earn this prestigious award on an annual basis. In the 100 years of the Medal of Honor, almost 1,400 student-athletes have earned this distinction.
Bissett is a three-time All-American as well as a 2014 Academic All-America honoree. He won a national title in 3-meter diving at the Canadian Winter Nationals earlier this year and also qualified for the NCAA Championships for the third time as a Boilermaker. He finished eighth in platform diving at this year’s NCAA Championships.
Bissett was an honorable mention All-American in platform diving as a sophomore and in 3-meter diving as a junior. He was Purdue’s top individual scorer at the Big Ten Championships in both 2013 and 2014 and ranks as the program’s active career leader in scoring at the Big Ten Championships by a significant margin after scoring in all three diving events each of the last three years. The Ottawa, Ontario, native ranks among the Purdue all-time top 10 in all three diving events. He is a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, compiling a 3.86 grade-point average as a health sciences pre-professional major.
Tweardy is a two-time All-American. She is a two-time NCAA Championships qualifier who finished eighth nationally in 10-meter platform diving as a junior to earn All-America honors. This season, she garnered honorable mention All-America accolades. Tweardy competed at the World University Games in Russia during the summer of 2013. She scored in all three diving events at the Big Ten Championships each of the last three years and ranks second among active Boilermakers in career scoring at the Big Ten Championships.
Tweardy was Purdue’s top individual scorer at the 2013 Big Ten Championships, earning second-team All-Big Ten honors after finishing as the runner-up in the championship final of 1-meter and platform. The Grafton, Ohio, native ranks among Purdue’s all-time top five in both 1-meter and platform diving. She is a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, compiling a 3.47 grade-point average as a biomedical engineering major.