TicketsCINCINNATI -- It was a banner day for four University of Cincinnati student-athletes, as baseball's Griffin Merritt was named the American Athletic Conference's Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and Kylie Nause (lacrosse), Desmond Ridder (football) and Jane Sensibaugh (track and field) also earned top honors from their respective sports.
Merritt is the fourth Bearcat to claim Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year accolades from the AAC since its 2014 inception, joining men's track and field athletes Brian Barney (2015) and Adrian Valles (2017, 2018).
Chosen by member institutions' faculty athletics representatives, each winner receives a $2,000 scholarship, with Merritt receiving an additional $2,000 as the conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Griffin Merritt (Sr., Biological Sciences, 3.867)
Merritt had an outstanding season at the plate, batting .315 with an OPS of 1.077. His 19 home run campaign led the American Athletic Conference and is now tied for third-most ever by a Bearcat in a single season. Merritt also paced the AAC in slugging percentage (.695) and RBIs per game (1.02). In addition to earning All-AAC First Team honors, Merritt, a graduate of Cincinnati's La Salle HS, became just the second UC player to be named American Athletic Conference Player of the Year on May 23. He was also named the program's fourth CoSIDA Academic All-American this season and first since Ian Happ in 2015.
Kylie Nause (Sr., Speech, Language, Hearing Sciences, 3.868)
Nause broke school records for single-season goals (63) and hat tricks (15), finishing third (142) and second (30) in each for the career books. The Phoenix, Md., product finished eighth nationally in goals, as well as leading the league, and was a two-time AAC Attacker of the Week. She had a pair of six-goal games (Central Michigan, Butler) as well as three more with five (Kent State, Akron, Temple). Nause, who claimed the goals record in her final collegiate game, had the team's highest shot percentage (.533) since 2014) and will attend grad school at the University of Maryland for speech language pathology in the fall.
Desmond Ridder (Gr., Sport Administration, 3.401)
Ridder, a third-round pick of the Atlanta Falcons and second quarterback selected in the draft, wrapped up his collegiate career with the third-most wins by a quarterback in college football history (44), while finishing undefeated (26-0) at Nippert Stadium. The Louisville, Ky., native was finalist in 2021 for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and named the 2021 and 2020 AAC Offensive Player of the Year. He finished with a school-record 87 career touchdown passes, 10,239 passing yards (No. 2 in UC history) and 2,179 rushing yards. He had the most total yards (12,418) and total touchdowns (113) in UC and AAC history, leading Cincinnati to the highest ranking in school history (No. 2 in AP poll) and an appearance in the College Football Playoff. Ridder, a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District member, also became the first First-Team Academic All-American for UC since 1997.
Jane Sensibaugh (Jr., Interdisciplinary Studies, 3.988)
Sensibaugh is a thrower on the track and field team. This year, the Solon, Ohio, product broke the school record in the discus throw and recorded the top mark in the discus, shot put and hammer throw for the Bearcats. She earned All-AAC honors in every event at both the indoor and outdoor championship meets, including winning the discus throw title at the outdoors and finishing runner-up in indoor shotput. Sensibaugh was awarded the Nancy Hamat Scholar-Athlete of the Year award at the 2022 OneTeam awards for having the highest GPA of all female athletes. She majored in interdisciplinary studies and graduated with a 3.99 GPA.
Last year's honorees included Aaron Bienenfeld (track and field), Blake Hanna (swimming and diving) and Chris Vogt (men's basketball).
Merritt is the fourth Bearcat to claim Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year accolades from the AAC since its 2014 inception, joining men's track and field athletes Brian Barney (2015) and Adrian Valles (2017, 2018).
Chosen by member institutions' faculty athletics representatives, each winner receives a $2,000 scholarship, with Merritt receiving an additional $2,000 as the conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Griffin Merritt (Sr., Biological Sciences, 3.867)
Merritt had an outstanding season at the plate, batting .315 with an OPS of 1.077. His 19 home run campaign led the American Athletic Conference and is now tied for third-most ever by a Bearcat in a single season. Merritt also paced the AAC in slugging percentage (.695) and RBIs per game (1.02). In addition to earning All-AAC First Team honors, Merritt, a graduate of Cincinnati's La Salle HS, became just the second UC player to be named American Athletic Conference Player of the Year on May 23. He was also named the program's fourth CoSIDA Academic All-American this season and first since Ian Happ in 2015.
Kylie Nause (Sr., Speech, Language, Hearing Sciences, 3.868)
Nause broke school records for single-season goals (63) and hat tricks (15), finishing third (142) and second (30) in each for the career books. The Phoenix, Md., product finished eighth nationally in goals, as well as leading the league, and was a two-time AAC Attacker of the Week. She had a pair of six-goal games (Central Michigan, Butler) as well as three more with five (Kent State, Akron, Temple). Nause, who claimed the goals record in her final collegiate game, had the team's highest shot percentage (.533) since 2014) and will attend grad school at the University of Maryland for speech language pathology in the fall.
Desmond Ridder (Gr., Sport Administration, 3.401)
Ridder, a third-round pick of the Atlanta Falcons and second quarterback selected in the draft, wrapped up his collegiate career with the third-most wins by a quarterback in college football history (44), while finishing undefeated (26-0) at Nippert Stadium. The Louisville, Ky., native was finalist in 2021 for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and named the 2021 and 2020 AAC Offensive Player of the Year. He finished with a school-record 87 career touchdown passes, 10,239 passing yards (No. 2 in UC history) and 2,179 rushing yards. He had the most total yards (12,418) and total touchdowns (113) in UC and AAC history, leading Cincinnati to the highest ranking in school history (No. 2 in AP poll) and an appearance in the College Football Playoff. Ridder, a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District member, also became the first First-Team Academic All-American for UC since 1997.
Jane Sensibaugh (Jr., Interdisciplinary Studies, 3.988)
Sensibaugh is a thrower on the track and field team. This year, the Solon, Ohio, product broke the school record in the discus throw and recorded the top mark in the discus, shot put and hammer throw for the Bearcats. She earned All-AAC honors in every event at both the indoor and outdoor championship meets, including winning the discus throw title at the outdoors and finishing runner-up in indoor shotput. Sensibaugh was awarded the Nancy Hamat Scholar-Athlete of the Year award at the 2022 OneTeam awards for having the highest GPA of all female athletes. She majored in interdisciplinary studies and graduated with a 3.99 GPA.
Last year's honorees included Aaron Bienenfeld (track and field), Blake Hanna (swimming and diving) and Chris Vogt (men's basketball).