Carroll senior football player Tyler Vogds (right) closed his career in the Midwest Conference in November, but the 6-6, 247-pounder will now look to continue his career on the gridiron in the NFL. Vogds was invited to the Minnesota Vikings mini-camp as a longsnapper, a position he excelled at while also playing wide receiver for the Pioneers during the past four seasons.

Vogds recently showcased his skills at an invitation-only long snappers camp in Elmhurst, Illinois. Tapes from the workout were distributed to several NFL teams, including the Green Bay Packers, Atlanta Falcons and Vikings.

Vogds’ career collegiate numbers include 54 receptions for 541 yards and three touchdowns.

Former Monmouth College quarterback Mitch Tanney (right), who earlier this year signed with the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football league, was picked up this week by af1’s Philadelphia Soul. Now in its fifth year of existence, the Soul is co-owned by singer Jon Bon Jovi. Former NFL quarterback Ron Jaworski serves as the team president.

The former Fighting Scot signed with Philadelphia just three weeks after he was placed on the Storm’s practice squad. The move to the practice squad allowed another team to sign Tanney, as long as he was placed on that team’s active roster.

Tanney is expected to backup starting quarterback Matt D’Orazio. D’Orazio was moved to the No. 1 position following an injury to the Soul’s starter, Tony Granziani.

Illinois College has begun a search for a new head football coach following the announcement by head coach Aaron Keen (right) that he has accepted a position as offensive coordinator at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

The Blueboys posted a mark of 23-27 during Keen’s five seasons as head coach, and his 20 wins in MWC competition are the most by an IC head coach since the Blueboys joined the league in 1983. His success as a recruiter was also evident in the growth of the Blueboys’ roster over the past seasons. The turnout for football reached a 15-year high in 2007 when 100 candidates successfully earned roster positions.

Keen took over for former Head Coach Tom Rowland and guided the Blueboys to a 4-6 mark in his maiden season (2003). The following year, Illinois College finished 5-4 in league play and improved to program-best 6-3 record and 4th place MWC finish in 2006. His teams finished with an overall .460 winning record and were 20-25 against league foes.

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Former St. Norbert quarterback Cody Craig (right), the 2007 Midwest Conference Offensive Player of the Year, has signed with RiverCity Rage Professional Indoor Football of the United Indoor Football League.

Craig passed for 2,755 yards and 30 touchdowns in his senior season and ranks among the MWC career leaders in passing yards, touchdowns, completions, attempts and completion percentage.

The Rage, located in St. Charles, Missouri, will take the field for the first time in 2008 with a preseason game against the Missouri Wildcats on Sunday, March 2 nd.

Former Monmouth quarterback Mitch Tanney (right) will continue his pro career in 2008, signing a contract to play for the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League. The Storm have invited three quarterbacks to camp and only two will make the active roster. The third QB will be placed on a practice squad.

Playing for the AF2’s Alabama Steeldogs last season, Tanney was named the starting quarterback four games into the season and played in 16 games. He finished with a pass efficiency rating of 109.44, threw for over 3,400 yards and 67 touchdowns while averaging nearly 213 yards per game.

The 2005 MWC Offensive Player of the Year joins an organization with five ArenaBowl championships and 15 consecutive playoff appearances in its 16-year existence.

Max Hawsey (right) has been named the new head football coach at Grinnell College. Hawsey, who will also serve as assistant track and field coach, replaces Greg Wallace. Wallace gave up the football post after 20 years to concentrate on his new duties as director of athletics and recreation.

Hawsey comes to Grinnell from Colorado College, where he has served as offensive coordinator, offensive line coach, strength and conditioning coordinator and supervisor of the school’s weight room and fitness center since 2003. Prior to that he was an assistant football coach at his alma mater, Austin College in Texas, for six years.

In his time at Colorado College, Hawsey coached an All-America quarterback and helped the team break 15 offensive school records. In the past two seasons, Colorado College has averaged more than 30 points and 400 yards per game. As a player at Austin College, Hawsey was a first-team all-conference performer at outside linebacker twice. He served as team captain and was voted most valuable player his senior year while also earning second-team All-America honors at defensive end.

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St. Norbert senior defensive end Jay Arndt (right) has been named to the 2007 D3football.com All-America team. Arndt, the 2007 MWC Defensive Player of the Year and All-MWC firs teamer, was a third-team selection at defensive end.

Arndt finished the season with 52 tackles in 11 games, but 19.5 of his tackles were for losses. The 6-0, 235-pound end finished with 6.5 quarterback sacks, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. The Green Knights closed the season 10-1 overall, including a 9-0 mark in league play that highlighted the school’s second consecutive MWC title.

2007 D3Football.com All-American Team

Monmouth senior kicker/punter Nate Palkovic (right) accounted for seven points in Team USA’s 37-19 Aztec Bowl victory over the Mexican National Team on December 8 in Chihuahua, Mexico.

Palkovic opened the game’s scoring with a 33-yard field goal in the first quarter and then went on to convert 4-of-5 extra points. He also averaged 38.1 yards per kick on seven punts, including a long of 54 yards and three balls inside the 20-yard line.

Palkovic also averaged 65.1 yards per kickoff, as the Mexican National Team’s average starting field position in the game was its own 27-yard line.

2007 Aztec Bowl Box Score

Illinois College senior defensive back Jake Weller (right) has been named as a finalist for the 2007 Draddy Trophy and as a CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine First Team Academic All-American for the second consecutive season.

The Draddy Trophy is recognized as the “academic Heisman” in collegiate football. Weller and Mount Union center Eric Safran are the lone finalists from NCAA Division III schools.

Each of the 15 finalists for the award receives a post-graduate scholarship, while the winner, who will be announced on Monday, December 3, receives a $25 thousand dollar scholarship.

Weller, who has a 4.0 grade point average and majors in biology and chemistry, serves on the Student Athlete Advisory Committee and as treasurer of the Beta Beta Beta Academic Honor Society. He volunteered at Camp Care A Lot and the Special Olympics and was a member of the Students Crossing Borders fundraising committee.

Weller is the seventh football player in league history to receive Academic All-American honors twice in a career.

The Draddy Trophy has been awarded to a non-Division I-A player just once, when Brandon Roberts of Washington University earned the honor in 2002.

A 28-yard touchdown pass with 46 seconds remaining in the game lifted UW-Eau Claire to a 24-20 victory over St. Norbert in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Division III Football Playoffs on Saturday (November 17).

The visiting Blugolds made themselves at home early, driving 77 and 45 yards for a touchdown and a field goal, respectively, on their first two drives of the game. St. Norbert settled in and cut the lead to 10-7 on Cody Craig’s (18-35, 191 yards) five-yard TD pass to Ben Petry with 31 seconds remaining in the first half. The Green Knights received the ball to start the second half and promptly drove 67 yards on six plays, taking a 13-10 lead after the Bluegold’s blocked the extra point that followed Gerald Danforth’s eight-yard scoring run. UW-Eau Claire took back a 17-13 lead late in the third quarter, but St. Norbert responded again as Danforth caught a 12-yard TD pass from Craig for a 20-17 fourth quarter lead.

The Green Knight defense intercepted four passes in the game and did not allow a run longer than 11 yards en route to limiting UW-Eau Claire running back Cory Sartorelli to 2.9 yards per carry. St. Norbert’s A.J. Phillips ran for 77 yards on 15 carries in the first half, before leaving with an injury. Wide receiver Judd O'Connell caught eight passes for 88 yards and John Rappel picked off a pair of passes for St. Norbert.

A Midwest Conference student-athlete will be handling the kicking duties for Team USA in the Aztec Bowl for the second consecutive season, as Monmouth senior kicker Nate Palkovic (right) was selected to the team’s 2007 roster. The annual Aztec Bowl pits the American Football Coaches Association’s NCAA Division III all-star team against the Mexican National Team on December 8 in Chihuahua, Mexico. St. Norbert All-American kicker Bob Forstrom made four extra points in Team USA’s 28-7 Aztec Bowl victory a year ago.

Palkovic averaged 41.9 yards per punt and 62.4 yards per kickoff this season for the Scots. He also converted 9-of-14 field goals, including a long of 46 yards and 35-of-36 extra points.

Palkovic is one of 50 Division III seniors from around the country who will make up this year’s team. Former Widener, Delaware Valley and LaSalle Head Coach Bill Manlove will coach this year’s team.

The Midwest Conference began recognizing annual league award winners in conjunction with the All-MWC football team in 1995 and for the first time in league history all three awards will be going to the same campus. St. Norbert head coach Jim Purtill, whose team won the 2007 MWC Football Championship with a 9-0 league mark and 10-0 overall record, is the 2007 MWC Coach of the Year and features the MWC Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year among his eight first-team selections on the 2007 Midwest Conference Football All-Conference Team.

Green Knight senior quarterback Cody Craig (right) and senior defensive end Jay Arndt (left) were named the Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, respectively.

2007 MWC All-Conference Teams

The NCAA revealed the field for the 2007 NCAA Division III Football Playoffs on Sunday (November 11), as Midwest Conference champion St. Norbert (10-0, 9-0 MWC) found out it will host UW-Eau Claire (8-2, 5-2 WIAC) at noon on Saturday, November 17.

St. Norbert will be hosting a first round playoff game for the second time since the MWC received an automatic qualifier to the postseason tournament in 1999. The last time was in 2003 when the Green Knights recorded the MWC’s lone playoff victory under the current format with a 26-20 overtime victory over Simpson.

The sixth seeded Blugolds enter the postseason via a Pool C at-large berth, while third seeded St. Norbert received the conference’s Pool A automatic qualifier. Central is the top seed in the eight-team regional, while the winner of the game at St. Norbert’s Minahan Stadium will face the winner of Concordia (WI) at Bethel.

UW-Eau Claire reached the semifinals in 1998 when the school made its lone NCAA playoff appearance in football. St. Norbert is making its eighth playoff appearance and its fifth in the last six seasons. The Green Knights are 0-2 against the WIAC in the playoffs, falling to UW-La Crosse in 2004 and UW-Whitewater in 2006.

Illinois College senior cornerback Jake Weller (right), who was named as a finalist for the Draddy Trophy in October, was selected to the CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V football team. The Draddy Trophy is regard as the “Academic Heisman” award in college football.

Weller is a Biology & Chemistry major with a 4.0 grade point average who will now be placed on the Academic All-American ballot after achieving first-team status on the All-District team. Weller ranked second on the Blueboy defense with 76 tackles this season and was second on the team with three interceptions. He also recovered a pair of fumbles and registered 2.5 tackles for losses.

A pair of freshmen were named to the D3Football.com National Team of the Week, as Monmouth quarterback Alex Tanney (right) and St. Norbert punter Rob Berger (left) were recognized by the website for their performances on November 3.

Tanney led the Fighting Scots to a 42-14 season-ending road win over rival Knox, as he completed 24-of-29 passes for 309 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions. Tanney completed passes to 10 receivers on the afternoon.

Berger's 47.4-yard punting average proved to be pivotal in the Green Knights' 31-24 win over Illinois College. The freshman punter placed three punts inside the Blueboy 20-yard line, as Illinois College's average starting field position in the game was its own 25-yard line. A pair of Berger's punts were also downed at the Blueboy 1-yard line in the second half.

After a bye week this Saturday, Berger will punt in the Green Knights first round NCAA Playoff game on November 17, while Tanney closes his season with 2,678 passing yards and 24 touchdowns.

D3Football.com Team of the Week

St. Norbert entered the D3Football.com Top 25 poll this week, as the undefeated (9-0, 8-0) Green Knights were ranked 23rd nationally in NCAA Division III by the website. St. Norbert clinched a share of its eighth overall conference title in nine seasons with a 52-27 win over Ripon on October 20 and the school’s sixth outright championship in the same timeframe with a 55-9 victory against Beloit on October 27.

The Green Knights have risen to No. 11 in the country in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) weekly Top 25 poll.

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Ripon senior running back John McGuire (right) and Monmouth junior cornerback Cole Norman (left) were honored by D3Football.com for their efforts on the gridiron on October 27. The tandem was selected to the website’s National Team of the Week two days after being named MWC Offensive and Defensive Performers of the Week, respectively.

McGuire ran for 12 times for 127 yards and three touchdowns and also caught a TD pass in the Red Hawks’ 47-21 win at Grinnell. Norman intercepted a pair of passes and forced a fumble during a 26-23 overtime win over Illinois College. His biggest play came on an interception at the Monmouth one-yard line in the final minute of regulation that ended Illinois College’s game-winning drive and forced overtime.

D3Football.com Team of the Week

Illinois College senior safety Jake Weller (right) received one of college football’s most prestigious academic honors on October 25 when he was named a 2007 National Scholar-Athlete winner by The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF). Weller is among 15 winners in all NCAA divisions who are now finalists for the Draddy Trophy, regarded as the academic Heisman Trophy.

A Biology and Chemistry major with a perfect 4.0 grade point average, Weller is a team captain for the Blueboys and an active volunteer. He earned the American Chemistry Society’s POLYED Organic Chemistry Award and was named to the 2006 ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team. A Rammelkamp Honors Scholar, he received “Who’s Who among Students in American Universities and Colleges” laurels and garnered the Ruth L. Fosnaugh Award for foreign language excellence. He is also a two-time MWC Academic All-Conference performer.

Weller serves on the MWC Student Athlete Advisory Committee and as treasurer of the Beta Beta Beta Academic Honor Society. He volunteered at Camp Care A Lot and the Special Olympics and was a member of the Students Crossing Borders fundraising committee. He is also an usher at Trinity Episcopal Church.

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With its 52-27 win over Ripon on Saturday (October 20), St. Norbert clinched a share of the 2007 Midwest Conference Football Championship and an automatic berth to the 2007 NCAA Division III Playoffs. The Green Knights have won two consecutive outright league championships and now own 12 MWC titles overall. In nine years under head coach Jim Purtill (right), St. Norbert has been crowned MWC champs eight times, including six outright titles.

The Green Knights close the regular-season by hosting Beloit on October 27 and traveling to Illinois College On November 3. The team is bye on November 10 and will open the playoffs on November 17. The NCAA will release its playoff brackets live on ESPNU at 10:30 a.m. (central) on Sunday, November 11.

In addition to making six tackles, Lawrence sophomore safety Sam Laes (right) intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble that led directly to Viking scores during the team’s 51-20 win over Knox on October 13. Laes, who also scored a 42-yard touchdown on a fake punt in the game, was named the MWC Defensive Performer of the Week for his efforts and has now also been selected to the D3Football.com National Team of the Week.

D3Football.com Team of the Week

Ripon’s offensive line of tackles Mike Strelow & Alan Olmsted, guards Trevor Wirth & Mitch Winn and center Mark Leupold were named to the D3Football.com National Team of the Week following their performance at Beloit on October 6. The Red Hawk linemen cleared the way for 528 rushing yards, the second-best total in a game in school history, and seven rushing touchdowns during the 56-9 win over the Bucs. Ripon did not allow a sack in the game, as four backs scored touchdowns and six players ran for 42 yards or more.

D3Football.com Team of the Week

Lake Forest sophomore wide receiver Dan Carter (right) and St. Norbert junior cornerback John Rappel (left) were named the MWC Offensive and Defensive Performers of the Week, respectively, for their performances on September 29. Both players followed those accolades by being selected to the D3Fooball.com National Team of the Week.

Carter caught nine passes for 164 yards and tied a school single-game record with three touchdown receptions in a 44-36 victory over Beloit. Rappel became the first player in St. Norbert history to return two interceptions for touchdowns in a single-game, as he returned his thefts 35 and 22 yards to paydirt in addition to recording ten tackles in a 4-14 win over Knox.

D3Football.com Team of the Week

Monmouth senior kicker Nat Palkovic (right) was named to the D3Football.com National Team of the Week in addition to being named the MWC Special Team Performer of the Week for his performance in a 6-3 win over Carroll. Palkovic gave the Scots a 3-0 lead on a 36-yard kick in the second quarter and followed by the game-winner from 25 yards out with 4:28 left in the game. Palkovic also became Monmouth’s career scoring leader earlier this season.

D3Football.com Team of the Week

Carroll’s Jake Zeh (right) followed teammate Brock Linde by becoming the second straight Pioneer to be named Midwest Conference Defensive Performer of the Week following his performance in Carroll’s 42-0 win over Grinnell on September 15. Zeh has followed in Linde’s footsteps again by being named to the D3Football.com National Team of the Week for this efforts against Grinnell, which included 4.5 tackles for losses, three sacks and recovering a fumble that the sophomore defensive tackle forced.

D3Football.com Team of the Week

Monmouth senior kicker Nate Palkovic (right) became the Fighting Scots’ career scoring leader during Saturday’s 45-0 win over Beloit. Palkovic entered the game needing e ight points to pass record-holder Mark Reed and that was exactly what he got after going a perfect 5-for-5 on PATs and making a 32-yard field goal. Palkovic now has X total points in his career.

A trio of MWC Performers of the Week were recognized on the D3Football.com National Team of the Week for their performances during week two (September 8).

Carroll senior running back Bryce Crocker (right) was tabbed after rushing for 202 yards and four touchdowns on 15 carries in the Pioneers 35-6 win at Beloit. Crocker’s touchdowns included a 93-yard scamper that was the third longest in conference history. Teammate Brocke Linde (left), a senior cornerback, was also selected after recording three interceptions, seven tackles and a blocked field goal against the Bucs. Linde became the eighth player in league history to intercept three passes in a game.

Lake Forest’s Jimmy Hoover (right) was selected to the special teams portion of the Team of the Week after the sophomore defensive back made three special teams tackles and recovered back-to-back onside kicks that keyed a Forester rally in a 34-27 loss to Ripon.

D3Football.com Team of the Week

One Illinois College student-athlete broke a school record in the Blueboys’ 23-21 season-opening loss at Millikin on September 1, while another was recognized for his standout performance in the contest.

Senior wide receiver Joe Reed (right) became the school’s all-time receptions leader in the game, breaking the career mark of 149 receptions set by Jon Howard in 2006. Reed currently has 150 receptions after snagging eight balls for 93 yards against Millikin.

Senior safety Jake Weller (left), the MWC Defensive Performer of the Week, was named to the D3Football.com National Team of the Week after recording six tackles, two interceptions and one fumble recovery against Millikin. Weller’s fourth quarter fumble recovery led to a Blueboy touchdown on the next play.

D3Football.com Team of the Week

MWCTV (www.midwestconference.tv) will make its gridiron debut with a trio of non-conference football contests on Saturday, September 1. NCAA Division III football fans from across the country and world will have the opportunity to watch the MWC's top three teams, according to the 2007 Preseason Coaches Poll, along with two non-conference foes garnering national attention in the D3Football.com Top 25 Preseason Poll. UW-Oshkosh at Ripon kicks off at 1 p.m., while #25 Wartburg at Monmouth and Olivet Nazarene at St. Norbert follow at 1:30 p.m. All contests feature full video and audio and are available via pay-per-view for $6.95.

Interested viewers can log-on to www.midwestconference.tv for more information or to order any of the contests. A high-speed internet connection is recommended.

Ripon, the only MWC team aside from St. Norbert to receive a first-place prepoll vote, was picked to finish third in the MWC and opens against UW-Oshkosh at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Ron Ernst’s Red Hawks trailed the Titans 17-0 at halftime last year, before a 26-point UW-Oshkosh third quarter put the game out of reach. UW-Oshkosh is “receiving votes” in D3Football.com’s Preseason Top 25 Poll.

St. Norbert, who also fell into the “receiving votes” category in D3Football.com’s Preseason Top 25 Poll, was picked by league coaches to repeat as MWC champion in 2007. Jim Purtill’s squad will host NAIA foe Olivet Nazarene this Saturday at 1:30 p.m. The Green Knights blitzed the Tigers a year ago on the road, jumping out to a 31-0 advantage en route to a 31-13 victory against the two-time defending Victory Bowl champs.

Monmouth, picked to finish second in the MWC, will look to open the season with a home upset over #25 Wartburg on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Steve Bell’s Fighting Scots dropped a 20-0 decision at Wartburg in 2006 after being unable to convert a pair of trips inside the Knights 10-yard line into any points.

Beloit (Macalester), Carroll ( Carthage), Grinnell (Kenyon), Illinois College (Millikin), Knox ( Eureka), and Lake Forest ( Washington, MO) all open their seasons with non-conference road contests on Saturday. Lawrence is bye in week one.

MWCTV is a joint venture between the Midwest Conference and media technology firm Penn Atlantic. MWCTV launched in January of 2007, broadcasting all remaining men’s and women’s basketball conference contests during the 2006-07 season. MWCTV will carry all conference football, volleyball, men’s basketball and women’s basketball contests during the 2007-08 school year. Select non-conference contests may be broadcast in addition to Midwest Conference Championships and tournaments. For up-to-date information, visit www.midwestconference.tv

The 2007 season could be dubbed as “the year of the quarterback” in the Midwest Conference, as a trio of record-breaking senior signal callers prepare to lead their respective squads. Illinois College’s Pete Jennings already stands among the conference’s career leaders in several passing categories, while Carroll’s Chris Rogers will rank as one most of the most accurate passers in league history when his career comes to a close. St. Norbert’s Cody Craig enters the 2007 season with 40 career touchdown passes to go along with a conference championship ring from a year ago. His return is one of the biggest reasons the Jim Purtill's (right) Green Knights were picked to repeat as MWC champions in the 2007 MWC Football Preseason Coaches Poll.

St. Norbert received all nine possible first-place votes in the poll, while Monmouth finished second ahead of Ripon, despite the Red Hawks receiving the remaining first-place nod. Illinois College, Lake Forest and Carroll were separated by four total votes en route to being ranked fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively. Lawrence was tabbed to finish seventh, one spot ahead of Knox, while Beloit and Grinnell rounded out the poll in order.

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Joe Torrens, a graduate assistant football coach at Carroll the past two seasons, died tragically in a car accident on Saturday, June 16 near his hometown of Utica, Ohio.

Torrens, 24, recently returned to his hometown after finishing his two year stint with the Pioneers football program. He was still working towards his master’s degree in adult education at Carroll but was hired as a full time assistant coach at Muskingum College in Ohio for the 2007 season.

“There are not words to describe how devastated we are to hear the news about Joe,” said Carroll athletic director Kris Jacobsen. “For the past two years he was a strong contributor to the football program and was a young man with a very bright future. Our hearts go out to his family and to the young men whose lives he impacted throughout his time at Carroll.”

Torrens joined the Carroll staff in 2005 under then Carroll head coach Jeff Voris after a standout career at Wittenberg University. He was a four year member of the Witttenberg football team, earning a varsity letter as a defensive lineman in three of those seasons.

Torrens coached the defensive line under Voris and continued in that role in 2006 under current head coach Henny Hiemenz.

“Joe was a vital member of our staff for the past two years. We will miss him in that capacity, but we will miss him more as a friend,” said Hiemenz. “He left an indelible mark on this program and the lives he touched while he was here. This is a tragic loss for the Carroll community and our football family.”

Grinnell Head Football Coach and Associate Athletic Director Greg Wallace (right) has been selected as Grinnell's Director of Athletics and Recreation. Wallace replaces Dee Fairchild, who goes to senior faculty status on August 1.

"I look forward to the opportunities and challenges this position holds," said Wallace. " Grinnell College has an outstanding group of student-athletes and coaches, and it will be my goal to help them reach their goals in the classroom as well as in the arena. I look forward to working closely with our 20 sports teams, and promoting recreational opportunities and healthy living campus-wide."

Wallace has been football coach at Grinnell since 1988. He will continue to coach the football team this fall during which time Grinnell will begin a search for a new football coach for fall 2008.

"I'm so excited Greg will be taking over," said Dee Fairchild, adding, "I think the transition will be easy for the department and the College. He's well prepared and has a lot of great ideas."

Illinois College senior Brandon Rhea is one of 345 student-athletes from across the nation to be named to the National Football Foundation’s inaugural National Honor Society.

The team is comprised of players from all divisions who maintained a grade point average of 3.20 of greater. Rhea, who started for two years at linebacker for the Blueboys, was the lone representative from the Midwest Conference.

Paul Kinsella (right) has been named the offensive coordinator/recruiting coordinator for the Lawrence football team, Director of Athletics Robert Beeman announced on Tuesday (April 10).

Kinsella comes to Lawrence from Lakeland College, where he has spent the past five seasons. Kinsella has served as both the offensive and defensive coordinator at Lakeland, which compiled a 34-17 record during his time there.

Kinsella is a 1995 graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics. An All-College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin selection for the Titans, Kinsella has a master's degree in sports management from Northern Illinois University.

Kinsella was the defensive coordinator and defensive line coach at Lakeland last season and had spent the previous three seasons coaching the offensive line and serving as offensive coordinator. The Muskies were one of the top offenses in the country during that stretch and won back-to-back Illini-Badger Conference championships in 2004 and 2005.

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An anonymous donor has made Illinois College an offer that campus officials expect will secure necessary funding for installation of a new all-weather surface and other major upgrades at England Athletic Field.

Work on the project is expected to begin this spring in order to have the new multi-purpose playing surface in place when the 2007-2008 academic year begins in late August. The synthetic surface will replace the sod on England Field and make it possible for IC to host men’s and women’s soccer games and a wide variety of intramural sports in addition to hosting five varsity football games each year.

In addition to installation of an all-weather playing surface, the project calls for the complete replacement of the eight-lane, 400-meter track at England Field along with enhancements that will enable Illinois College to host track and field competitions that are in compliance with the NCAA. Plans also call for the track radius to be expanded in order to accommodate NCAA regulation men’s and women’s soccer inside of the track.