<P><B>Nov. 7, 2008</B>
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The University of Dayton has placed 13 Flyer football players on the 2008 University Division ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV Team, the most of any team in the country, it was announced Thursday. The Dayton list included seven first-team selections which tied with Penn State's seven for the most first-team selections of any Division I program. In the district, the 13 Flyers named to the first and second teams were more than twice as many as the next team, Ohio State, who had six.
<P>Senior defensive tackles <A HREF="http://www.fansonly.com/schools/dayt/sports/m-footbl/mtt/heenan_sean00.html" >Sean Heenan</a> (St. Joseph, MI) and <A HREF="http://www.fansonly.com/schools/dayt/sports/m-footbl/mtt/hemmelgarn_kalen00.html" >Kalen Hemmelgarn</a> (St. Henry, OH) were repeat all-district selections. Heenan was named to the 2008 first team, while Hemmelgarn made the second team. Both were on the 2007 second team all-district team.
<P>Heenan is a Pre-Med major. Hemmelgarn majors in Finance & Entrepreneurship.
<P>Joining Heenan on the first team were senior tight end <A HREF="http://www.fansonly.com/schools/dayt/sports/m-footbl/mtt/bergfeld_bart00.html" >Bart Bergfeld</a> (Delphos, OH), senior offense guard <A HREF="http://www.fansonly.com/schools/dayt/sports/m-footbl/mtt/mccormick_patrick00.html" >Patrick McCormick</a> (Louisville, KY), senior Flyer <A HREF="http://www.fansonly.com/schools/dayt/sports/m-footbl/mtt/mcdonald_steve00.html" >Steve McDonald</a> (Newark, OH), sophomore linebacker <A HREF="http://www.fansonly.com/schools/dayt/sports/m-footbl/mtt/ries_joe00.html" >Joe Ries</a> (Cincinnati, OH), senior safety <A HREF="http://www.fansonly.com/schools/dayt/sports/m-footbl/mtt/vossler_corey00.html" >Corey Vossler</a> (St. Mary's, OH) and junior defensive end <A HREF="http://www.fansonly.com/schools/dayt/sports/m-footbl/mtt/wingeier_brandon00.html" >Brandon Wingeier</a> (Newark, OH).
<P>Bergfeld is a Philosophy & Religion major. McCormick is a Pre-Med major. McDonald is an Adolescence-to-Young-Adult Education major. Ries majors in Sport Management. Vossler and Wingeier are Mechanical Engineering majors.
<P>Named to the second team along with Hemmelgarn were senior running back <A HREF="http://www.fansonly.com/schools/dayt/sports/m-footbl/mtt/gulick_joe00.html" >Joe Gulick</a> (Medina, OH), senior offensive guard <A HREF="http://www.fansonly.com/schools/dayt/sports/m-footbl/mtt/overman_marcus00.html" >Marcus Overman</a> (New Bremen, OH), senior offensive tackle <A HREF="http://www.fansonly.com/schools/dayt/sports/m-footbl/mtt/pollock_ryan00.html" >Ryan Pollock</a> (West Chester, OH), senior defensive back <A HREF="http://www.fansonly.com/schools/dayt/sports/m-footbl/mtt/smyth_matt00.html" >Matt Smyth</a> (Highlands Ranch, CO) and sophomore wide receiver <A HREF="http://www.fansonly.com/schools/dayt/sports/m-footbl/mtt/ward_james00.html" >James Ward</a> (Pataskala, OH).
<P>Gulick majors in Criminal Justice. Overman majors in Middle Childhood Education. Pollock is a Philosophy & Spanish major. Smyth is an Economics major, and Ward is an Entrepreneurship & Leadership major.
<P>The ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District team is the first step in selecting this year's Academic All-America team. Everyone named to the district first teams appears on the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America national ballot.
<P>The district teams are made up of student-athletes from Division I-A and I-AA schools in Alabama, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. To be nominated, student-athletes must be a starter or important reserve, and carry a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 or higher. Team members are selected by a vote of members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) within the district.
The Dayton football program has produced 14 Academic All-Americans since the 2000 season. That's the most by any school at any level of college football, and includes the 2007 Division I ESPN The Magazine All-American of the Year, <A HREF="http://www.fansonly.com/schools/dayt/sports/m-footbl/mtt/cramer_brandon00.html" >Brandon Cramer</a>.
<P>In the history of the Academic All-America program, UD has had 44 Academic All-Americans. Among schools currently playing Division I football, only Nebraska (95), Notre Dame (51), Penn State (48), Ohio State (47) and Oklahoma (45) have had more. UD has had at least one football player named Academic All-American in 15 of the last 16 years. Covering all sports, at least one University of Dayton student-athlete has been named an Academic All-American for 24 straight years.
<P>Dayton is 8-1 overall and in first place in the Pioneer Football League with a 5-0 record this season. UD plays at Butler Saturday at 1:00 p.m. ET. |
