ROSEMONT, Ill. – Penn State student-athletes Olivia Damico and Ben Doyle have been selected as the recipients of the 2024 Big Ten Postgraduate Scholarships, the conference announced Wednesday.
Student-athletes must have maintained at least a 3.2 grade-point average (GPA), demonstrated leadership qualities, served as an excellent role model and intended to continue their academic work beyond their baccalaureate degree at a graduate degree program.
Senior women’s soccer midfielder Olivia Damico returns to Happy Valley for her fifth and final season in the Blue & White coming off a productive 2023 campaign that saw her set career highs in matches played, goals scored, total assists, total points and total shot attempts. Damico, a native of Victor, New York, owns 47 career appearances for Penn State and has started in 10 matches during her Nittany Lion playing career. Her four career goals and three assists amount to a career scoring total of 11 points in just under 1,500 minutes of playing time on the pitch.
PSU women’s soccer head coach Erica Dambach named Damico one of the program’s four team captains ahead of the upcoming 2024 campaign on Tuesday, July 2, joining teammates Rowan Lapi, Mieke Schiemann and Devon Olive. Damico has been an instrumental voice on and off the field for PSU, helping continue a rich tradition of success highlighted by a run to the National Quarterfinals of the 2023 NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament.
Academically, Damico has added three straight seasons of Academic All-Big Ten and Big Ten Distinguished Scholar nominations to her on-field statistics, earning coveted B1G academic honors every season in which she was eligible. Following the 2024 spring semester, Damico graduated from Penn State’s College of Health and Human Development with an undergraduate degree in Kinesiology and a 3.95 GPA. She will continue her education in Happy Valley this year, pursuing a one-year Master of Business Administration degree from the prestigious Smeal College of Business.
Doyle finished his Nittany Lion career in the pool with four victories and career bests times of 53.84 in the 100 breast and 1:18.63 in the 200 free.
In 2022, Doyle was named to the CSCAA Scholar All-America second team. The Exton, Pa. native earned a spot on the College Sports Communicators All-District team in 2023 as well as earned the Ellen Perry & Robert Krimmel Academic Achievement Award.
Doyle graduated from Penn State with a 3.94 GPA from the Schreyer Honors College. He’s pursuing a Ph.D. in Kinesiology with an exercise physiology concentration at Texas A&M this fall.