Nov 14, 2019

Phillip Nichols, River Shindledecker and Corey Kennedy are named to the 2019 Academic All-District 7 Team, selected by CoSIDA

Wheaton, Ill. – Three members of the Wheaton College football team have been named to the 2019 Academic All-District Seven Football Team, selected by CoSIDA, for Division III. Seniors Phillip Nichols, and Corey Kennedy are joined by junior River Shindledecker on the First Team. As First Team Academic All-District selections, all three will be on the national ballot for the Google Cloud Division III Academic All-America Football Team that will be announced December 10. This is the fifth-consecutive year that Wheaton has had at least one player on the District 7 Academic All-District Team.

Nichols earned First Team Academic All-District recognition at wide receiver. A senior biology major at Wheaton, he holds a 3.56 cumulative grade point average at Wheaton. Nichols is a three-time All-CCIW selection in his career. This season, he leads the Thunder with 46 receptions for 690 receiving yards. Nichols has six touchdown receptions this season and is averaging 15.0 yards per catch. He was named the CCIW's "Offensive Player of the Week" on October 6 and also earned recognition to the D3football.com Team of the Week on that day as well.

Shindledecker earned First Team All-District honors at defensive line. The junior is a Christian Formation and Ministry major at Wheaton, with a 3.46 cumulative grade point average. Shindledecker has 30 total tackles this season, including 16 solo stops. He has 10 tackles for lost yardage (-16 yards), including 6.5 sacks (-49 yards). The junior has five quarterback hurries, one safety and a forced fumble. He was named to the D3football.com Team of the Week on October 28 for his efforts in a Thunder victory against Augustana.

Kennedy earned First Team Academic All-District recognition at defensive back for the second-consecutive season. In 2018, Kennedy was a First Team Academic All-America selection. A senior Business/Economics major at Wheaton, he holds a 3.97 cumulative grade point average. Kennedy, a 2018 Second Team All-CCIW selection season at safety, has 31 total tackles this season with 20 solo stops. The senior has two interceptions (96 yards), including one touchdown return. He has three tackles for lost yardage (-9 yards) and nine pass deflections.

The Academic All-District® Teamis a part of the Academic All-America® program, selected by CoSIDA that honors student-athletes annually who have succeeded at the highest level in athletics and in the classroom. Members of the eight First Team Academic All-District® squads in each Division advance to the national ballot, where they have the opportunity to be selected for the Academic All-America Team. Individuals are selected through voting by CoSIDA; a 2,000-plus member organization consisted of sports public relations professionals for colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.

Through the years, Wheaton student-athletes have earned a total of 96 Academic All-American selections through the prestigious program. Since 2000, there have been 71 Academic All-American selections from Wheaton.

There have been 20 Wheaton College football Academic All-America selections among 16 players since the program began: Bill Hyer (1973); Eugene Campbell (1975 & 1976); Craig Carter (1976); Steve Haugen (1976); Paul Sternenberg (1988), Bart Moseman (1992); Pedro Arruza (1993, 1994 & 1995); Jeff Brown (1995); Chip Parrish (1996); Dane Lundgren (2002); James Hoxworth (2003); Andrew Day (2005); J.J. Clark (2011); Scott Roche (2011), Eric Stevenson (2017 & 2018) and Kennedy (2018).

To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at his/her current institution. Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Division I, II, III, NAIA and junior colleges covering all NCAA championship sports.Print Friendly Version