2016 CoSIDA Academic All-America® Football Teams release dates:
College Division Teams: PDF | doc
NCAA Division III Teams: PDF | doc
NCAA Division II Teams: Wed., Nov. 30
NCAA Division I Teams: Thurs., Dec. 1
• Academic All-America® Program Index Page
Ryan Anderson of Olivet Leads CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division III Football Team
Ryan Anderson
Olivet
AUSTIN, Texas – Senior punter Ryan Anderson of Olivet headlines the 2016 CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division III Football Team selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Anderson, a business administration major from DeWitt, Michigan with a 4.00 grade-point average, was voted the CoSIDA Academic All-America® of the Year for Division III football.
The CoSIDA Division III Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division III national governance structure, to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2016-17 Division III Academic All-America® teams program.
Anderson finished the season averaging 46.2 yards per-punt for the Comets, who reached the NCAA Division III national playoffs and finished 9-2, winning the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association title for the second straight year. His average currently ties the NCAA Division III single-season record. This season, he placed 15 punts inside the opponent’s 20-yard line, and had 18 punts of 50 yards or more, including a season-long 65-yard punt. His 46.2-yard average is currently tops among NCAA Division III punters and tied for seventh-best among all NCAA punters, regardless of division.
A 2016 D3football.com Preseason All-American, he earned All-MIAA first-team honors for the second straight year. He earned American Football Coaches Association Division III All-America, AP All-America third-team and D3football.com All-North Region honors last season.
Anderson has earned President’s List (4.0 G.P.A.) honors every semester of his college career. He is a President’s Leadership Institute fellow at Olivet, and has served as an internship at Northwestern Mutual as a financial representative.
Nineteen of the 49 members of the CoSIDA Academic All-America® football teams have a 3.90 or better grade-point average, with eight achieving a perfect 4.00 G.P.A. – Anderson, Salisbury junior kicker Alex Potocko, Concordia-Chicago senior defensive lineman Tim Bahr, Saint John’s (Minnesota) senior linebacker Carter Hanson, Elmhurst senior linebacker Andy Warsen and Marietta senior defensive back Corey Hunsberger on the first team, and Wisconsin-Stevens Point senior quarterback Kyle Larson and Wilmington (Ohio) senior defensive lineman David Henry on the second team.
The 24 members of the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division III football first team maintain an average G.P.A of 3.85.
Nine individuals are repeat selections on the CoSIDA Academic All-America® football teams, including two who repeated as first-team selections. Four first-team selections this year were second-team selections last year, two second-team selections were first-team selections last year, and one first-teamer was a second-team CoSIDA Academic All-America® team selection in 2014.
Saint John’s (Minnesota) senior linebacker Carter Hanson, a senior from Blue Earth, Minnesota, is a global business leadership major with a 4.00 G.P.A., earning CoSIDA Academic All-America® first-team honors for the second straight year. A Gagliardi Trophy semifinalist and the only Division III player selected as a finalist for the National Football Foundation Campbell Trophy, Hanson earned All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference first-team honors three straight years and was a consensus Preseason All-America selection this season. A D3football.com All-America honorable-mention selection last year, Hanson led the Johnnies this season with 74 tackles (29 solo), including 8.0 tackles for-loss. He also had three interceptions, seven pass breakups and a forced fumble for the Johnnies, who finished 10-2 and reached the second round of the NCAA Division III national playoffs.
Marietta defensive back Corey Hunsberger, a senior from Washington, Pennsylvania, is a petroleum engineering major with a 4.00 G.P.A., and is a repeat CoSIDA Academic All-America® first-team selection. Playing in seven games before his senior season was ended due to injury, he finished with 42 tackles (28 solo), with 2.5 tackles for-loss, a pass breakup and fumble recovery. He has earned Academic All-Ohio Athletic Conference honors three times, and has earned Athletic Director’s Honor Roll and Dean’s High Honors List honors all six semesters of his college career. He is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Colleges Against Cancer and Marietta College Red Cross organizations.
Carnegie Mellon running back Sam Benger, a junior from Hingham, Massachusetts, is a business administration major with a 3.65 G.P.A. He moved from the CoSIDA Academic All-America® second team last year to the first team this year, as one of only two juniors on the first team (seven non-seniors overall). Already the Tartans’ career rushing yardage record-holder with 4,333 yards, he rushed for 1,671 yards and 26 touchdowns this season – currently second nationally among Division III players in rushing touchdowns, third in rushing yards, fifth in rushing yardage per-game (151.9) and 10th in total offense yardage per-game (159.7). He also ranks second nationally in total touchdowns (28), points (170) and points per-game (15.5). Benger earned Presidents’ Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year honors for the second straight season, and also earned All-University Athletic Association honors this year. An AFCA, D3football.com and AP All-American in 2015, Benger has earned PAC and UAA all-academic honors twice each and is a UAA President Scholar-Athlete Team honoree.
Benger’s teammate, Carnegie Mellon senior defensive lineman Brian Khoury, also moved up from the second team to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® first team this season. Khoury is an electrical and computer engineering major with a 3.49 G.P.A. from Davenport, Iowa. Khoury was named the UAA’s Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight year. He finished the season with 55 tackles (31 solo), with 12.5 sacks—tied for seventh-most among Division III players nationally—and 16 tackles for-loss, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. He also earned All-PAC honors for the second straight year in 2016, and was a D3football.com All-Region first-team and All-America honorable-mention selection last year. Khoury holds the Tartans’ career sack record with 29.5. A 2016 William V. Campbell Trophy semifinalist, Khoury has spent the past two summers as an intern with the Ford Motor Company in Michigan. He is a three-time UAA academic and two-time PAC academic honoree, and is a UAA President Scholar-Athlete Team member.
Johns Hopkins also had two individuals move from the CoSIDA Academic All-America® second team last year to the first team this year—senior linebacker Jack Campbell and senior defensive back Jack Toner. Both were key members of a Blue Jays’ squad that finished 11-1 overall and reached the second round of the NCAA Division III national playoffs, winning the Centennial Conference title for the sixth straight year and seventh time in an eight-year span.
Campbell, a senior from Chagrin Falls, Ohio, is a biology major with a 3.88 G.P.A. Campbell was named the Centennial Conference Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year, in addition to earning first-team all-conference honors this season after earning second-team honors last year. Campbell led the team with 101 tackles (54 solo), including 3.5 tackles for-loss, two sacks, two interceptions, a pass breakup and a forced fumble. He finished his career with 280 tackles (146 solo). Campbell has served as a patient assistant volunteer and clinical observer at the Cleveland Clinic, after twice serving as a summer research intern there. He has also worked as a tutor program with inner-city kids and is student leader for the football team’s Be The Match drive.
Toner, a senior from Western Springs, Illinois, is an economics major with a 3.78 G.P.A. A three-time All-Centennial Conference selection, he was named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year this season. He finished this season with a single-season school-record-tying eight interceptions—tied for third-most among NCAA Division III players nationally—to go along with 55 tackles, two tackles for loss, four pass breakups and a fumble recovery. A D3football.com All-America second-team selection last year, his 18 career interceptions are second in school history, and he finished his career with 188 tackles (115 solo). Toner has completed summer internships with three financial companies, while also serving as a volunteer tutor and as a volunteer for the Stop Soldier Suicide Golf Outing.
MIT offensive lineman Elliot Tobin, a senior from Minnetonka, Minnesota, is an economics and management major with a 3.92 G.P.A. A CoSIDA Academic All-America® first-team selection this year, he was a second-team selection in 2014. A four-year starter who started every game for the last three years, he earned All-New England Football Conference first-team honors for the third year in a row in 2016. The NEFC’s Offensive Lineman of the Year and an All-America honorable-mention selection in 2014, he was a part of an offensive line that helped MIT average 127.4 rushing yards per-game (294.7 yards of total offense per-game) this season, producing more than 7,000 rushing yards in his career. He has completed internships with Complete Solar Solution, Select Equipment and CreditSights in his college years.
Two defensive linemen earned CoSIDA Academic All-America® second-team honors in 2016 after earning first-team honors in 2015—Endicott senior Craig Anderson and Wilmington (Ohio) senior David Henry.
A Franklin, Massachusetts native, Anderson is a criminal justice major with a 3.89 G.P.A. He recorded 28 tackles (15 solo), four sacks, two quarterback hurries and a blocked kick this season. Anderson finished his career with 21.5 sacks, second-best in school history, while recording 204 tackles (95 solo) and 40.5 tackles for-loss. He earned All-New England Football Conference first-team honors in both 2016 and 2015, while earning second-team honors in 2014 and Defensive Rookie of the Year honors in 2013. He was a D3football.com All-East Region second-team honoree in 2015. A two-time Academic All-Conference selection, he earned the National Football Foundation’s Jack Grinold Eastern Massachusetts Chapter Jack Daly Award for Academics, Citizenship and Football in 2016.
A Wilmington, Ohio native, Henry is a sports management wellness major with a 4.00 G.P.A. He was only able to play in five games this season, after suffering a season-ending injury. He finished with 17 tackles, 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble. He has 153 tackles (75 solo), nine sacks and 25 tackles for-loss in his career. A second-team All-Ohio Athletic Conference selection in 2015, Henry participates in the Denver Place Elementary Mentorship, serves as a Resident Assistant and participated in a Trick or Treat event for canned goods. He was named the college’s Fall Male Athlete of the Year in the 2015-16 school year.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Jeff Schwartz, North Dakota State University
Academic All-America® Co-Vice-Chair for Publicity/Communications
Jeff.Schwartz@ndsu.edu
(701) 231-8332
Don Stoner, Augsburg College
Academic All-America® Coordinator of Publicity
stoner@augsburg.edu
(612) 330-1677