CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – Bucknell fifth-year punter Alex Pechin was named the Patriot League Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the third consecutive season in addition to being selected to the 14-member Academic All-Patriot League Team when the League office announced honors on Wednesday.
Pechin becomes the first three-year scholar-athlete of the year in Patriot League football history. Earlier this year, he became the third football player to receive the Patriot League Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year, joining Bucknell's David Berardinelli (1993) and Lehigh's Nick Martucci (1999).
The Patriot League Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Academic All-Patriot League Team honors student-athletes who excel both on and off the field and is made up of 14 student-athletes. The awards are nominated and voted on by the Patriot League Football sports information directors. To be eligible for the Scholar-Athlete of the Year award and the Academic All-Patriot League Team, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average and be a starter or key player in his/her sport. Freshmen or student-athletes in their first academic year at their school are not eligible for the honor.
The Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year for each sport comprises the pool of nominees for the Patriot League Male and Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards, given out over the summer. One male and one female are selected for this honor.
2019 Patriot League Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Alex Pechin, Bucknell, 5th-year, P, Kennett Square, Pa./Unionville
*Pechin, the League's first three-time football scholar-athlete of the year, holds a 3.90 cumulative grade point average (GPA) as a biomedical engineering and management for engineers major.
*This season, he broke the Patriot League single-season record with an FCS best 47.3-yard punt average. The mark is the seventh-best in FCS history.
*In 2019, he became the fourth football student-athlete in Patriot League history to receive first-team All-League honors four times, and seventh to earn Academic All-League three times.
*The multi-time All-America selection is the FCS active career leader with a 44.5-yard punt average, and has earned an invitation to the 2020 East-West Shrine Game.
*He has served as a Bucknell football team peer tutor a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and completed internships with Orbit Biomedical, a startup company dedicated to gene and cell therapy treatment for patients suffering from sight-threatening diseases.
Pechin Leads Six Multi-Year Honorees Highlight 2019 Football Academic All-League Squad
Pechin highlights the list of multi-year honorees, becoming the seventh football student-athlete in League history to be selected to the Academic All-Patriot League squad three times. Five more student-athletes make their second appearance on the team, including Bucknell junior linebacker Rick Mottram (mechanical engineering, 4.00 GPA), Colgate junior quarterback Grant Breneman (mathematical economics, 3.54 GPA), Georgetown senior quarterback Gunther Johnson (government, 3.67 GPA), and junior defensive back Ahmad Wilson (finance, 3.53 GPA) and Lehigh junior linebacker Pete Haffner (finance, 3.70 GPA).
Seven Academic All-League Selections Received CoSIDA Academic All-District Honors
Seven Academic All-Patriot League selections were previously recognized by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) as Academic All-District honors, including three in District 1 (Conn., Mass., Maine, N.H., N.Y., R.I., Vt.) with Fordham junior offensive lineman Nick Zakelj (finance, 3.64 GPA), along with Holy Cross junior quarterback Connor Degenhardt (psychology, 3.55 GPA) and sophomore running Peter Oliver (chemistry/Spanish, 3.93 GPA). The League was represented by four student-athletes in District 2 (D.C., Del., Ky., Md., N.J., Pa., W.Va.), including Mottram, Wilson, Haffner and Lafayette senior defensive lineman Ryan Barnett (mathematics/economics, 3.53 GPA).
Five First-Team, Four Second-Team All-League Picks Make Academic Squad
Nine members of the academic squad claimed All-League recognition on Tuesday. Pechin, Zakelj, Wilson and Fordham linebackers Glenn Cunningham (economics, 3.42 GPA) and Ryan Greenhagen (undeclared, 3.76 GPA) all made the first team. Degenhardt and Haffner, along with Lafayette junior linebacker Major Jordan (engineering, 3.42 GPA) and junior placekicker Jeffrey Kordenbrock (mechanical engineering, 3.73 GPA) received second-team accolades.
2019 Patriot League Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year – Alex Pechin, Bucknell, 5th-year, P
2019 Academic All-Patriot League Football Team
Alex Pechin, Bucknell, 5th-year, P
Rick Mottram, Bucknell, Jr., LB
Grant Breneman, Colgate, Jr., QB
Glenn Cunningham, Fordham, Jr., LB
Ryan Greenhagen, Fordham, So., LB
Nick Zakelj, Fordham, Jr., OL
Gunther Johnson, Georgetown, Sr., QB
Ahmad Wilson, Georgetown, Jr., DB
Connor Degenhardt, Holy Cross, Jr., QB
Peter Oliver, Holy Cross, So., RB
Ryan Barnett, Lafayette, Sr., DL
Major Jordan, Lafayette, Jr., LB
Jeffrey Kordenbrock, Lafayette, Jr., K
Pete Haffner, Lehigh, Jr., LB
ABOUT THE PATRIOT LEAGUE
The Patriot League is in its third decade of academic and athletic achievement, continually demonstrating that student-athletes can excel at both academics and athletics without sacrificing high standards. The Patriot League's athletic success is achieved while its member institutions remain committed to its founding principle of admitting and graduating student-athletes that are academically representative of their class. Participation in athletics at Patriot League institutions is viewed as an important component of a well-rounded education.