Dec. 9, 2005

Three University of Dayton football players - offensive tackle Ryan Winner, offensive guard Ross Mroczek, and cornerback Casey Klaus - have been named to the Sports Network's NCAA Division I-AA Mid-Major All-America Team, it was announced today.

Winner, a senior co-captain from Greenville, Ohio, was a pre-season Sports Network All-America selection, and he proved the prediction correct by finishing his career with 31 consecutive starts. Winner was a two-time First Team All-Pioneer Football League performer, and was also named Second Team Academic All-PFL in 2005.

Joining Winner was Mroczek, a senior from South Bend, Indiana. UD's Most Improved Player as a junior, Mroczek joined Winner on the PFL First Team this season. Winner and Mroczek were mainstays on the line that did the work to allow Dayton runners to average 5.2 yards a carry, and score 38 rushing touchdowns in 2005. UD was fourth nationally in scoring offense (40.30), and fifth in both rushing offense (259.4) and total offense (470.7).

Klaus was also First Team All-PFL after leading the Flyers and the Pioneer Football League in interceptions (6). The junior from Delphos (Ohio) St. John's High School also led Dayton with six passes broken up, and was second in solo tackles (32). UD finished third in I-AA in scoring defense (14.1), marking the sixth straight year the Flyers were ranked in the top ten in scoring defense.

The Flyers were 9-1 in 2005, and ranked #2 in the Sports Network's Division I-AA Mid-Major rankings. Dayton is one of only five teams in NCAA Division I-AA who finished the year with just a single loss.