Football Places Eight on Academic All-District Team

Nov. 8 – (PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – Eight members of the Carnegie Mellon University football team were honored with CoSIDA Academic All-District selections for 2007. Five players were named to the first team and will move on to the national ballot, while three others claim second team honors.

Carnegie Mellon is part of District 2, which is comprised of non-NCAA Division I Colleges in the states of Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. In order to be nominated a student-athlete must be a starter or significant reserve and hold a 3.2 GPA or better.

Selected to the first team were three seniors and two juniors. Four of the five Tartans named to the first team were honored with first or second team accolades last season.  Seniors Trent Sisson (Novi, Mich.), Matt Adams (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Scioto) and Jonathan Scholl (Coraopolis, Pa./Pittsburgh Central Catholic), along with junior Brian Freeman (Independence, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) were named first team and honored for the second year in a row.  Carnegie Mellon’s Clay Crites (Tuscarawas, Ohio/Indian Valley) is a newcomer to the all-district team claiming the fifth spot for the Tartans on the first team.  Sisson and Freeman were named All-American’s last season, Sisson as a linebacker and Freeman as and offensive lineman.

Seniors Anthony Ciotti (Selinsgrove, Pa.) and Richard Hauffe (Manassas, Va./Osbourn) and junior Derek Wisnieski (Indiana, Pa.) were selected to the second team.

Sisson has recorded 47 tackles this season ranking fourth best on the team.  He also has recorded three tackles for a loss and has one blocked field goal.  Joining him on the defensive side is Scholl, as he was honored at defensive back, along with Crites and Hauffe on the defensive line.  Scholl leads the team with 98 tackles, while Hauffe and Crites rank one and two on the team in tackles for a loss and in sacks.  Hauffe has recorded 11.5 tackles for a loss and 6.5 sacks with Crites tallying 8.0 and 5.5, respectively.  

Freeman and Ciotti were honored as offensive lineman and Wisnieski at tight end.  The three have played a major part in helping the Tartans earn a yards per game national ranking of eleventh with 280.3.

Adams, the lone special teams member, has landed 17 of his 45 punts inside the opponents 20 and averages 39.5 yards per punt.  He has five punts of more than 50 yards including a school record 70-yard punt.
The average GPA of those receiving honors for Carnegie Mellon is 3.78. The Tartans are also represented more than any other team in any of the eight districts for the second straight season.  Hardin-Simmons claimed seven spots on the District 6 team, the closest to Carnegie Mellon.