AM
Austin Mital
  • Physics
  • Class of 2017
  • Ginter, Pa.

Mital earned Academic All-District honors

2016 Dec 13

Senior running back Blake Bowman (Valley View, Pa./Tri-Valley) and senior offensive lineman Austin Mital (Ginter, Pa./Moshannon Valley) were each named to the College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-District 4 Team, the organization announced on Thursday, Nov. 3.

Bowman, a history major, is leading the Middle Atlantic Conference in rushing yards for the second year in a row, entering week nine with 801 yards on the season, while his 12 rushing touchdowns and 121.0 all-purpose yards also lead the conference. Bowman, who rushed for 1,150 yards as a junior while scoring a school-record 18 touchdowns, has scored 31 touchdowns in his career, the second-most in school history and his 2,475 career rushing yards is fifth. In two years as a starter, Bowman earned Second Team All-MAC honors and two MAC Offensive Player of the Week awards to go with his accolades as an Academic All-District Team member.

Bowman continues a string of uber-intelligent Warrior tailbacks, as he is the third straight starting running back to earn Academic All-District honors, following Parker Showers '13 (2012) and Craig Needhammer '15 (2013, '14).

Mital has started all eight games for the Warriors at left guard, helping the Warriors average 336.6 yards of total offense per game, including 153.9 rushing yards per game while blocking for Bowman. Mital was the team's candidate for the National Football Foundation's National Scholar-Athlete Award. He stepped full-time into the starting lineup as a junior after being hindered by injuries as a sophomore. The healthy 6-3, 290-pounder developed into a Second Team All-MAC selection while helping the offense roll up 1,825 rushing yards, the fifth-highest total in school history. The physics major is a two-time member of the MAC Academic Honor Roll and he was an Academic All-MAC selection as a junior.

Mital is the first Warrior offensive lineman to earn academic all-district honors since Dickie Houck was a second-team college division selection in 2003.

This is the first time the Warriors have had two Academic All-District selections since Jeff Mahalick and Joe Emrick earned the honors in 1992, with Mahalick, a defensive back, going on to earn Second Team Academic All-American honors.

The Warriors head to Delaware Valley for a 1 p.m. MAC game on Saturday, Nov. 5.