CoSIDA release (pdf)
NORTHFIELD, Minn. -- Carleton College junior offensive lineman Will Taylor (Missoula, Mont./Loyola Sacred Heart) was named to the 2009 CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District Second Team. Taylor has anchored the right guard position this year for the Knights, putting Carleton on pace for its top rushing season since 2005.
Taylor is a political science/international relations major and boasts a 3.80 grade point average. He joins 10 other MIAC athletes on the All-District Football Teams and has been a second-team selection both years he has been eligible for the honor.
Taylor has had a tremendous impact on the quality of Carleton’s offensive line. In 2008, his first season as a full-time starter, Carleton not only led the conference in both scoring offense (29.7 ppg) and total offense (411.3 yds/g), but the Knights had 54 percent fewer sacks than the year before.
Carleton more than doubled (457 to 969) its rushing output from 2007 to 2008, and the team has already run for 943 yards through the first eight games of the 2009 campaign (118/game), putting the Knights on pace to reach 1,000 yards for the first time in five seasons.
The ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District team is part of the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America program, administered by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) a 2,000-member organization consisting of sports public relations professionals for colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. The Academic All-America program annually honors over 1600 student-athletes who have succeeded at the highest level on the playing field and in the classroom.
Top student-athletes from non-Division I programs in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ontario and Manitoba are eligible for inclusion on the district team. To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his current institution and be nominated by his sports information director.
