ESU’s Jace McDown named CoSIDA First Team Academic All-American

ESU Athletics

EMPORIA – Emporia State linebacker Jace McDown has earned earned Academic All-American honors for the second straight year as presented by CoSIDA. He is just the third Hornet football player to earn multiple Academic All-America honors and the first defensive player.

The Columbus, Kan. native is a health and human performance major with a 3.99 GPA and was named a Second-Team Academic All-American® by CoSIDA in 2019. He is a member of the MIAA Academic Honor Roll and ESU Athletic Director’s Honor Roll as well as being named an MIAA Scholar Athlete during the last season of competition. He is also a D2 ADA Academic Achievement Award recipient and member of the Emporia State chapter of Chi Apha Sigma Athletic Honor Society. He was named the Newberg Distinguished Senior at Emporia State.

He was a semifinalist for the 2020 William V. Campbell Trophy® Presented by Mazda and was named the MIAA Fall Male Student-Athlete of the Year for 2019-20. He was an honorable mention All-American and first-team All-MIAA selection at linebacker for the Hornets in 2019. He finished the season tied for second in the MIAA with 95 total tackles and led the league with 58 solo tackles as Emporia State was ranked second in the MIAA in total defense and third in scoring defense. He was ranked 28th nationally in solo tackles.

The senior to be has 231 career tackles in 33 career games, with 222 of them coming in the last two years. He was named Second-Team All-MIAA last season after leading the MIAA with 127 total tackles, 79 solo tackles, and five forced fumbles. He was ranked third in the nation in forced fumbles, fourth in total tackles and eighth in solo tackles.

He was named Emporia State’s Outstanding Male Student-Athlete of the Year in 2019-20 and was voted best teammate and most outstanding player on the football team by his fellow players.

To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. The Division II and III Academic All-America® programs are partially financially supported by the NCAA Division II and III national governance structures to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2019-20 Divisions II and III Academic All-America® programs.

McDown’s Academic All-American honor is the 57th all-time for Emporia State and this is the 16th time a Hornet football player has been honored. This is the fifth straight year Emporia State has had a football player earn Academic All-American honors, the longest active streak in the MIAA.

McDown will be a part of MIAA Football Media Day presented by Seigfreid Bingham on Tuesday, July 27 in Kansas City. The Hornets are scheduled to open the season on Saturday, September 4 at Northeastern State in Tahlequah, Okla. The home opener is set for 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 11 from Jones Field at Welch Stadium. Season tickets are on sale now at emporiastatetickets.com.

2020-21 NCAA DIVISION II FOOTBALL ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA AS PRESENTED BY CoSIDA
FIRST TEAM

SECOND TEAM

CoSIDA Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year: Evan Ernst, Ohio Dominican University

(1) – CoSIDA Academic All-America® first team selection in 2019-20
(2) – CoSIDA Academic All-America® second team selection in 2019-20
(#) – CoSIDA Academic All-America® first team selection in 2018-19

Emporia State All-time Academic All-Americans
as presented by CoSIDA

NAIA Football Academic All-Americans