CLEVELAND -- The Mid-American Conference announced its 2008 Football Academic All-MAC team Thursday, as voted by faculty athletic representatives at MAC institutions. A total of 31 student-athletes were named to the team. The number of honorees on the MAC All-Academic Team are the number that is set for the specific sport or 33% of the number of nominees, whichever is greater. The remaining student-athletes have been recognized as Academic Honorable Mention selections.
Central Michigan topped the Academic All-MAC squad with seven selections (Bryan Anderson, Matt Berning, Brian Brunner, Eric Fraser, Andrew Hartline, Dan LeFevour, and Frank Zombo). Northern Illinois had five honorees (Jon Brost, Mike Krause, Chandler Harnish, Craig Rush, and Matt Simon).
West Division Champion Ball State placed three on the team (Gonzalo Barinaga, Dan Gerberry, Ian McGarvey, and Chris Miller). With three selections each was Bowling Green (Cody Basler, Craig Rutherford, and Jimmy Scheidler) and Ohio (Michael Brown, David Carter and Jameson Hartke). Western Michigan (Tim Hiller and Phillip Swanson) and Kent State (Nate Reed and Dorian Wood) each had two selections.
Brian Flaherty (Akron), Andy Schmitt (Eastern Michigan), Joe Hudson (Miami), Jake Brownell (Temple) and Kevin Kowalski (Toledo) rounded out the selections.
LeFevour was named to the squad for the third consecutive season. Additional repeat selections from the 2007 team are Barinaga and Miller from Ball State; Anderson, Hartline and Zombo from Central Michigan; Schmitt (Eastern Michigan); Reed (Kent State); Brost and Simon (Northern Illinois); Hartke (Ohio); Brownell (Temple); and Hiller and Swanson (Western Michigan).
Earlier this year Swanson was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America second team.
The Academic All-MAC honor is for a student-athlete who has excelled in athletics and academics. To qualify, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA and have participated in at least 50 percent of the contests for that particular sport. First-year students and junior college transfers in their first year of residence are not eligible for the award.
Academic All-MAC
Brian Flaherty, Akron, Senior, 3.849 GPA, Integrated Language Arts
Gonzalo Barinaga, Ball State, Senior, 3.682, Pre-Med
Dan Gerberry, Ball State, Senior, 3.265, Physical Education
Ian McGarvey, Ball State, Sophomore, 3.552, Psychology
Chris Miller, Ball State, Senior, 3.378, Accounting
Cody Basler, Bowling Green, Junior, 3.44, Exercise Science
Craig Rutherford, Bowling Green, Junior, 4.00, Secondary Education
Jimmy Scheidler, Bowling Green, Junior, 3.47, Business Pre-Law
Bryan Anderson, Central Michigan, R-Junior, 3.21, Biomedical Sciences
Matt Berning, Central Michigan, Sophomore, 3.79, Undecided
Brian Brunner, Central Michigan, Senior, 3.89, Journalism
Eric Fraser, Central Michigan, R-Junior, 3.51, Health Fitness
Andrew Hartline, Central Michigan, Senior, 3.31, Economics
Dan LeFevour, Central Michigan, R-Junior, 3.53, Interpersonal Communications
Frank Zombo, Central Michigan, R-Junior, 3.32, Health Fitness
Andy Schmitt, Eastern Michigan, R-Junior, 3.37, Mathematics-Secondary Education
Nate Reed, Kent State, Junior, 3.35, Pre-Accounting
Dorian Wood, Kent State, Sophomore, 3.84, Biology
Joe Hudson, Miami, Senior, 3.20, Exercise Science
Chandler Harnish, Northern Illinois, R-Freshman, 3.83, Business Management
Jon Brost, Northern Illinois, Senior, 3.60, Electrical Engineering
Mike Krause, Northern Illinois, R-Sophomore, 3.44, Business Management
Craig Rusch, Northern Illinois, R-Senior, 3.33, Mechanical Engineering
Matt Simon, Northern Illinois, R-Senior, 3.30, Graduate Student
Michael Brown, Ohio, Graduate Student, 3.89, Coaching Education (Master’s)
David Carter, Ohio, Senior, 3.81, Coaching Education (Master’s)
Jameson Hartke, Ohio, Senior, 3.45, Finance
William “Jake” Brownell, Temple, Junior, 3.52, Biology
Kevin Kowalski, Toledo, Sophomore, 3.75, Undecided
Tim Hiller, Western Michigan, R-Junior, 4.00, MBA/Business & Marketing
Phillip Swanson, Western Michigan, R-Sophomore, 3.92, Journalism
Honorable Mention Academic All-MAC
Andy Hildreth, Akron, Holder
Kreg Hunter, Ball State
Nick Iovinelli, Bowling Green
Marques Parks, Bowling Green
Sinisa Vrvilo, Bowling Green
Sean Murnane, Central Michigan
Mike Petrucci, Central Michigan
Jeremy Wilson, Central Michigan
Eric Davis, Eastern Michigan
Dan DeMaster, Eastern Michigan
Lyle Garrison, Eastern Michigan
Tyler Palsrok, Eastern Michigan
Ben Thayer, Eastern Michigan
Patrick Treppa, Eastern Michigan
Michael Fay, Kent State
Mitchell Anderson, Miami
Brayden Coombs, Miami
Anthony Kokal, Miami
Seth Philip, Miami
Pat Schiller, Northern Illinois
Chris Hall, Ohio
Adam Olsheski, Ohio
Beau Brudzinski, Toledo
