Fort Hays State linebacker Alex Whitehill has been named to the first-team and punter Ethan Kosjer to the second-team of the Daktronics Division II All-American football team. The McPherson senior is one of eight MIAA players named to the first team by the Division II sports information directors.
Whitehill finished the season leading NCAA Division II in tackles with 164, just five short of the Division II single-season record. However, he did set a new school record for tackles in a season, breaking the old mark of 150 set by Junior Hartig in 1979. He also set a new NCAA Division II record for assisted tackles in a season with 106, breaking the old mark of 105 set by Brian Holliday of Fayetteville State in 2002. Whitehill recorded at least 10 tackles in nine of 11 games this year and never had less than seven in a game. He had at least 20 tackles in a game three times this year.
Kosjer led the MIAA in punting average for the second straight season, this year at 44.4 yards per boot. Kosjer ended the season ranked third in NCAA Division II in punting average. He set new single-season and career records at FHSU for punting average. His 44.4 yards per kick this year eclipsed the old mark of 43.2 set by Adam Ryan in 2000 and his career average of 42.7 passed the mark of 41.4, also set by Ryan.
2011 Daktronics All America Football Team
Offense
First Team
Pos Player School Class Ht. Wt. Hometown
TE David Cannon Central Missouri Jr 6-2 240 St. Louis, Mo.
OL Amini Silatolu Midwestern State Sr. 6-3 320 Tracy, Calif.
OL Joe Long Wayne State (Mich.) Sr. 6-6 308 Lapeer, Mich.
OL Rod Williams Northwest Missouri Jr. 6-5 300 Grandview, Mo.
OL Garth Heikkinen Minnesota-Duluth Jr. 6-4 305 Duluth, Minn.
OL Darrell Leopold Delta State (Miss.) Sr. 6-2 305 Laurel, Miss.
WR Trey McVay Northeastern State Sr. 5-9 188 Muskogee, Okla.
WR Thomas Mayo California (Pa.) Sr. 6-2 200 Reston, Va.
QB Dane Simoneau Washburn (Kan.) Sr. 6-3 227 Salina, Kan.
RB Jonas Randolph Mars Hill (N.C.) Sr. 5-10 185 Daleville, Ala.
RB Joe Glendening Hillsdale (Mich.) Jr. 5-10 188 East Grand Rapids, Mich.
RS John Brown Pittsburg State (Kan.) So. 5-1 170 Homestead, Fla.
PK Greg Zuerlein Missouri Western Sr. 6-0 190 Lincoln, Neb.
Second Team
Pos Player School Class Ht. Wt. Hometown
TE Brian Leonhardt Bemidji State (Minn.) Jr. 6-5 253 Blaine, Minn.
OL Kyle Thornton North Alabama Sr. 6-4 345 Dallas, Texas
OL Cody Johnson Northwest Missouri Sr. 6-2 290 Jasper, Mo.
OL Tyler Hendrickson Concordia-St. Paul (Minn.) Sr. 6-8 318 St. Paul, Minn.
OL Stephen Goodin Nebraska-Kearney Sr. 6-6 310 Hastings, Neb.
OL Chandler Rearden Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.) Sr. 6-1 265 Greenwood, S.C.
WR Trevor Kennedy Mercyhurst (Pa.) Sr. 6-0 200 Akron, Ohio
WR Troy Burrell Wayne State (Mich.) Sr. 5-10 182 Port Huron, Mich.
QB Adam Neugebauer West Virginia Wesleyan Sr. 6-2 210 Pittsburgh, Pa.
RB Jonathan Woodson Texas A&M-Kingsvllle Jr. 5-10 185 Missouri City, Texas
RB Travis Daniels North Carolina-Pembroke Sr. 5-10 205 Washington, N.C.
RS Deonte Gist Tusculum (Tenn.) Sr. 5-9 175 Wllford, S.C.
PK Kyle Major Colorado State-Pueblo Sr. 6-3 230 Littleton, Colo.
Defense
First Team
Pos Player School Class Ht. Wt. Hometown
DL David Bass Missouri Western Jr. 6-5 260 St. Louis, Mo.
DL Connor Wright Colorado Mesa Sr. 6-1 250 Wheat Ridge, Colo.
DL Jonas Celian West Virginia Wesleyan Jr. 6-1 210 North Lauderdale, Fla.
LB Marcus Dowtin North Alabama Sr. 6-2 225 Upper Marlboro, Md.
LB Nate Dreiling Pittsburg State (Kan.) So. 6-4 228 Hutchinson, Kan.
LB Alex Whitehill Fort Hays State (Kan.) Sr. 6-3 220 McPherson, Kan.
LB Jamarkus Gaskins Albany State (Ga.) Sr. 6-2 220 Tifton, Ga.
S Clarence Laster Southwestern Oklahoma Sr. 6-0 190 Hemet, Calif.
S Brody Scheff Bemidji State Sr. 6-0 206 Waconia, Minn.
CB Arthur Hobbs Nebraska-Kearney Sr. 5-11 190 San Diego, Calif.
CB Elijah Davis Shepherd (W. Va.) Sr. 5-8 192 Silver Spring, Md.
P Taylor Accardi Colorado Mines Jr. 6-2 205 Littleton, Colo.
Second Team
Pos Player School Class Ht. Wt. Hometown
DL Aston Whiteside Abilene Christian Sr. 6-0 285 Vernon, Texas
DL Todd Storm Michigan Tech Sr. 6-0 250 Calumet, Mich.
DL Randy Colling Gannon (Pa.) Sr. 6-5 320 Arcade, N.Y.
LB Jordan Campbell N.M. Highlands Jr. 6-0 230 Corona, Calif.
LB Lee Meisner Colorado State-Pueblo Sr. 6-0 240 Sterling, Colo.
LB Jeremy Aguilar Texas A&M-Kingsville Jr. 6-1 235 Los Angeles, Calif.
LB Chad Kilgore Northwest Missouri Sr. 6-1 230 Orrick, Mo.
S Jeremy Jones Wayne State (Mich.) Sr. 5-10 189 Grand Rapids, Mich.
S Bryce Peila Western Oregon Jr. 6-1 200 Central Point, Ore.
CB Dominique Davenport Delta State (Miss.) Sr. 5-10 180 Baldwyn, Miss.
CB Janoris Jenkins North Alabama Sr. 5-10 185 Pahokee, Fla.
P Ethan Kosje Fort Hays State (Kan.) Sr. 6-3 195 Douglass, Kan.
The team, which is sponsored by Daktronics, Inc., an acknowledged leader in scoring, timing and programmable display systems, is voted on by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).