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BAY CITY, Mich. -- Ashland University senior wide receiver Nick Bellanco has been named recipient of the 2009 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Jack H. McAvoy Award as announced by Commissioner Dell Robinson. The award is presented annually to the GLIAC football player who best combines outstanding character and leadership on the field, in the classroom, and in the community.
A native of Wooster, Ohio, Bellanco has earned a 3.90 grade point
average (4.0 scale) while majoring in Biochemistry and Mathematics.
He has been named to the GLIAC All-Academic football team three
times, is a Second Team Academic All-American, and is a two-time
member of the GLIAC Football All-Conference Second Team. A fall
2008 GLIAC Commissioner’s Award recipient for athletic and
academic excellence, Bellanco was nominated for the National
Football Foundation’s 2009 William V. Campbell Trophy. In the
summer of 2008, Bellanco received a grant from the Society of
Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh where he worked on two research
projects dealing with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization
time-of-flight mass spectrometry. A member of the American Chemical
Society, Bellanco plans to continue his education in the field of
orthopedic medicine. Off the field, the two-sport athlete has been
involved in Ashland’s chapter of the Fellowship of Christian
Athletes.
This season, Bellanco recorded 42 receptions for 757 yards and
seven touchdowns, leading the team in both yards-per-catch average
and touchdown receptions. He ends his career fourth in school
history in career receptions (123) and third in career receiving
yards (1,975). He shares the school single-season record for
receptions (72) and his 1,001 receiving yards is the second highest
school single-season mark. Bellanco is tied for second place in
career touchdowns receptions (17) at Ashland.
“The GLIAC is proud of the accomplishments of Nick
Bellanco,” stated Commissioner Robinson. “He
exemplifies outstanding character and embodies all of the qualities
that the Jack McAvoy Award and Division II athletics
represent.”
Bellanco becomes the first Ashland athlete to win the award.
Ferris State University has had the most recipients of the award
(4), with Michigan Technological University and Saginaw Valley
State University in second with two apiece. The Award is named for
former Hillsdale College director of athletics and head football
coach, Jack McAvoy, who was instrumental in the founding of the
Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference (MIFC), now known as
the GLIAC.
Jake H. McAvoy Award Winners
2009 Nick Bellanco Ashland
2008 Jake Visser Ferris State
2007 Mark Nicolet Hillsdale
2006 Mike Klobucher Ferris State
2005 Matthew Shem Northern Michigan
2004 Neil Baumgartner Saginaw Valley State
2003 Josh Sherko Northern Michigan
Scott
Stuible Northwood
2002 Jason Battershell Saginaw Valley State
2001 Chris Volz Indianapolis
2000 Alex Kowalski Michigan Tech
1999 Mo Harris Ferris State
1998 Jeff Fox Grand Valley State
1997 Matt Fishburn Wayne State
Eric Tree
Michigan Tech
1996 Chris Pulliams Ferris State