TOWNSON, Md. – Five Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) student-athletes were named to the 2012 Capital One Academic All-America® Division II Football Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
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Senior defensive lineman Jacob Clark (Lansing, Mich.) and senior wide receiver Matt Curtin (Sturgeon Bay, Wis.) of Michigan Technological University, senior defensive back Donnie Dottei (Toledo, Ohio/Whitmer) of Ashland University and senior linebacker Grant Caserta (Holland, Mich./West Ottawa HS) of Saginaw Valley State University earned Capital One Academic All-America® Division II Football First Team honors. Senior tight end Zach Cecich (Crown Point, Ind.) of SVSU was named to the Second Team.
To be nominated, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.30 cumulative grade-point average, have attained sophomore academic and athletic standing, be a varsity starter or key reserve, named first team All-District and be nominated by their sports information director.
Clark earned his second straight nod to the Academic All-America
First Team after anchoring on the interior of Tech's defensive
line. The senior had 32 tackles including three for loss and 2.5
sacks. He was a major factor in the Huskies' rush defense, which
finished second in the league allowing just 118.3 yards per game.
In the classroom, Clark boasts a 3.93 grade point average in civil
engineering.
Curtin reset Tech's school record by hauling in 12 touchdown
passes on the year. The senior wide receiver caught 47 passes for
838 yards on the season. He was on pace to become just the third
player in Tech history to have 1,000 yards receiving before
suffering a season-ending injury with more than two games to play.
Curtin ranked third in the GLIAC in both receptions and receiving
yards per game and was fifth in scoring. Academically, Curtin is a
civil engineering major with a 3.36 cumulative GPA.
A safety, Dottie was named to the GLIAC All-Academic Excellence Team (3.50 GPA or higher) this season. This is his second consecutive year on that unit. Dottei was named to the All-GLIAC honorable mention list for the second straight year. In 2012, Dottei was seventh on the team in tackles (51/31 solo). He had two interceptions. In 2011, Dottei was the team leader in interceptions (five).
Caserta graduated from the College of Business in four years in May 2012 with a degree in General Business and earned a cumulative GPA of 3.81. He is currently enrolled in the graduate studies program. Caserta started all eleven games this year at linebacker for the Cardinals. He helped Saginaw Valley hold opponents to 25.8 points per game and accumulated a team-high 109 tackles and two interceptions this season.
Cecich owns a 3.96 GPA as a Business Management major in the College of Business and will graduate this December after four and a half years. He was also named to the Capital One Academic All-District IV Second Team in 2010. Arguably one of the best all-around athletes on the SVSU team, Cecich started all 11 games this season, including two starts at left tackle. He caught ten passes for 124 yards and a touchdown in 2012.
The Capital One Division II and III Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division II and III national governance structures, to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2011-12 DII and DIII Academic All-America® teams program.