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Wieneke leads MVFC academic team
11/29/2017 12:27:00 PM | Football
ST. LOUIS — A league-best nine South Dakota State University football players, including five first-team selections, were named Wednesday to the 2017 Missouri Valley Football Conference All-Academic Team.
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Nominees must be starters or important reserves with at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average (4.0 scale). Student-athletes must have reached sophomore academic and athletic standing at their institutions (freshmen are not eligible). League sports information directors voted on the team by designating 11 players for first-team honors and 11 players for second-team honors. A total of 37 student-athletes, including honorable mention selections, were honored league-wide.
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Leading the Jackrabbit contingent was three-time first-team honoree Jake Wieneke. A senior wide receiver from Maple Grove, Minnesota, Wieneke has compiled a 3.62 grade-point average while majoring in physical education/teacher education. A four-time first-team all-MVFC performer and the league's career record holder for receiving yards (4,862) and receiving touchdowns (56), Wieneke is a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy as college football's top scholar-athlete.
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Receiving first-team recognition for the second year in a row was junior quarterback Taryn Christion, who has posted a 3.62 GPA as a business economics major. On the field, the Sioux Falls native has been an all-MVFC honoree each of the past two seasons, earning first-team recognition in 2016 and second-team accolades this season.
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Senior running back Brady Mengarelli moved to the first team after earning second-team recognition in 2016. A native of Prescott, Arizona, Mengarelli has turned in a 3.60 GPA as an exercise science major and has been the team's leading rusher each of the last three seasons.
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Rounding out SDSU's first-team selections were junior linebacker Dalton Cox and sophomore offensive lineman Wes Genant. Cox has posted a perfect 4.0 GPA while majoring in economics and entrepreneurial studies, while Genant has compiled a 3.97 GPA as a biochemistry major.
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Second-team honors were awarded to offensive lineman Caleb Lang and fullback Kane Louscher. Lang, a Freeman native, was honored with a 4.0 GPA while majoring in agricultural and biosystems engineering. Louscher repeated on the second team with a 3.82 GPA in human biology.
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Earning honorable mention recognition were senior safety Nick Farina (3.62 GPA in exercise science) and sophomore linebacker Christian Rozeboom (3.30 GPA in animal science).
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Earlier this fall, five Jackrabbits — Cox, Farina, Genant, Mengarelli and Wieneke – were selected to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 6 Team and are under consideration for Academic All-America honors.
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Nominees must be starters or important reserves with at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average (4.0 scale). Student-athletes must have reached sophomore academic and athletic standing at their institutions (freshmen are not eligible). League sports information directors voted on the team by designating 11 players for first-team honors and 11 players for second-team honors. A total of 37 student-athletes, including honorable mention selections, were honored league-wide.
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Leading the Jackrabbit contingent was three-time first-team honoree Jake Wieneke. A senior wide receiver from Maple Grove, Minnesota, Wieneke has compiled a 3.62 grade-point average while majoring in physical education/teacher education. A four-time first-team all-MVFC performer and the league's career record holder for receiving yards (4,862) and receiving touchdowns (56), Wieneke is a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy as college football's top scholar-athlete.
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Receiving first-team recognition for the second year in a row was junior quarterback Taryn Christion, who has posted a 3.62 GPA as a business economics major. On the field, the Sioux Falls native has been an all-MVFC honoree each of the past two seasons, earning first-team recognition in 2016 and second-team accolades this season.
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Senior running back Brady Mengarelli moved to the first team after earning second-team recognition in 2016. A native of Prescott, Arizona, Mengarelli has turned in a 3.60 GPA as an exercise science major and has been the team's leading rusher each of the last three seasons.
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Rounding out SDSU's first-team selections were junior linebacker Dalton Cox and sophomore offensive lineman Wes Genant. Cox has posted a perfect 4.0 GPA while majoring in economics and entrepreneurial studies, while Genant has compiled a 3.97 GPA as a biochemistry major.
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Second-team honors were awarded to offensive lineman Caleb Lang and fullback Kane Louscher. Lang, a Freeman native, was honored with a 4.0 GPA while majoring in agricultural and biosystems engineering. Louscher repeated on the second team with a 3.82 GPA in human biology.
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Earning honorable mention recognition were senior safety Nick Farina (3.62 GPA in exercise science) and sophomore linebacker Christian Rozeboom (3.30 GPA in animal science).
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Earlier this fall, five Jackrabbits — Cox, Farina, Genant, Mengarelli and Wieneke – were selected to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 6 Team and are under consideration for Academic All-America honors.
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Players Mentioned
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