Wingate No. 19 in Preseason D2Football.com Poll; Six SAC Players Named to All-America List
Defending South Atlantic Conference champion Wingate has been tabbed No. 19 in the D2Football.com preseason poll, and six SAC student-athletes were named to the website's All-America team, it was announced on Monday.
Wingate, which was voted by SAC coaches as the preseason favorite to win the 2011 league title, finished 9-3 last season. Defending NCAA National Champion Minnesota-Duluth earned the poll's top spot.
[RELATED: Wingate Tops SAC Football Preseason Coaches' Poll]
The SAC also has six student-athletes on the website's preseason
All-America team, led by first-team selection Chandler Rearden.
The senior offensive lineman from Lenoir-Rhyne earned a host of
accolades in 2010, including being named first-team All-American by
the AFCA. Rearden was also the SAC's Jacobs Blocking Trophy winner
last season, and appears on several other 2011 preseason
All-American lists.
Tusculum quarterback Bo Cordell was named to the website's
second-team. The 2010 SAC Offensive Player of the Year also
received numerous recognitions after his record-setting season, in
which he earned All-American honors from numerous outlets, was a
Harlon Hill Award finalist and was named Tennessee Football Player
of the Year.
Wingate also landed a pair of student-athletes on the second team
in offensive lineman Mike Arndt and defensive back Robert
Fletcher. Arndt was a second-team Daktronics All-Region selection
and first-team All-Conference pick in 2010. Fletcher was named to
the All-SAC second team.
Mars Hill's Jonas Randolph, a 2010 D2Football.com second-team All-America selection at running back, was named to the preseason second-team. He also garnered first-team All-SAC honors in 2010.
Newberry defensive lineman Arterio Arnold, a 2010 second-team All-Conference selection, was also named to the website's 2011 preseason second team.
All six members of the D2Football.com preseason All-America team
have been named preseason first-team All-SAC.
The complete D2Football.com preseason poll can be found here.