Bucknell's Pechin Finalist for FCS ADA Postgraduate Scholarship
1/4/2019 11:41:00 AM | Football
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Bucknell's Alex Pechin was selected as one of seven finalists for the Football Championship Subdivision Athletics Directors Association's Postgraduate Scholarship, the organization announced Friday.Â
In addition, the All-American punter and two-time Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year was recognized on the FCS ADA Academic All-Star Team for the second year in a row. These are the latest in a long line of honors for Pechin, who was previously recognized on this year's STATS, Phil Steele and Hero Sports All-America First Teams and AP and AFCA All-America Second Teams. He is Bucknell's first specialist to capture All-America accolades from the AFCA and AP.
Two of the seven finalists will receive postgraduate scholarships during the association's annual membership meeting at the World Center Marriott in Orlando, Fla. on June 10-12. The other finalists are Chandler Burks (Kennesaw State), Andrew Chuma (Lafayette), Taryn Christion (South Dakota State), David Leisring (Dayton), Josh Poplar (Tennessee Tech) and Easton Stick (North Dakota State).
Pechin was one of eight Patriot League student-athletes to be honored on the FCS ADA Academic All-Star Team; the Patriot League led all conferences in number of honorees.
Pechin's awards haul in the 2018 off-season has been impressive. In addition to his five All-America awards, he earned All-Patriot League First Team accolades for the third time and All-ECAC First Team laurels for the second time. As successful in the classroom as he is on the field, he became the Patriot League's fifth back-to-back Scholar-Athlete of the Year in conference history, was a repeat finalist for the STATS FCS Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete Award and made the Academic All-Patriot League Team for the second-straight season.Â
One of the finest punters in Bucknell history, Pechin stood first in the FCS in punts (81) and punting yards (3,606) and fourth in punting average (44.5) at the end of the 2018 regular season. The only punter in the FCS's top five with at least 65 punts at that time, he broke the school record in punts while posting the second-best punting average in the Bucknell annals. Of his 81 punts, a career-best 29 sailed for at least 50 yards while 28 landed inside the 20.
Pechin owns the Bison record in career punting average (43.7) and the program's top-three single-season averages of 45.1 (2017), 44.5 (2018) and 42.1 (2015); he also booted the third- (71) and fifth- (70) longest punts in school history over the course of the 2018 campaign. After capturing STATS Third Team All-America accolades in 2017 on the strength of his 45.1 punting average, which ranked third in the FCS, he was named to 2018 Preseason All-America First Teams by STATS, Phil Steele, Hero Sports, College Sports Madness and FreeAgentFootball.com.
A senior Biomedical Engineering/Management for Engineers major, Pechin boasts a 3.93 grade point average. This fall, he conducted gene therapy research for a start-up company he worked at over the summer. As part of his intensive five-year degree program at Bucknell, he has completed multiple projects; his senior design project involves creating ultrasound simulation for surgical training. He is also a regular volunteer at Riverwoods, a senior living community in Lewisburg, and a football team peer tutor.
