Photo by: Josh Turner
Bucknell's Pechin Honored as Athlon Sports All-American
1/9/2019 10:39:00 AM | Football
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Bucknell's Alex Pechin was selected to the prestigious Athlon Sports All-America Team, the publication announced Wednesday.
Pechin was the lone Patriot League student-athlete to be recognized on Athlon Sports's 2018 All-America squad. This is the senior punter's sixth All-America award of the season; he was previously honored on the 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 garner All-America laurels from the AFCA and AP.
Pechin's awards haul in the 2018 off-season has been impressive. In addition to his six 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. In addition, he was selected as one of seven finalists for the Football Championship Subdivision Athletics Directors Association's Postgraduate Scholarship and was named to the organization's Academic All-Star Team for the second year in a row.
One of the finest punters in Bucknell history, Pechin finished first in the FCS in punts (81) and punting yards (3,606) and fourth in punting average (44.5) in 2018. The only punter in the FCS's top five with at least 65 punts, and one of only two in the top 10 with that same number, he broke the school record in punts while posting the second-best punting average in the Bison annals. Of his 81 punts, a career-best 29 sailed for at least 50 yards while 28 landed inside the 20.
Pechin owns Bucknell's 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.
Pechin was the lone Patriot League student-athlete to be recognized on Athlon Sports's 2018 All-America squad. This is the senior punter's sixth All-America award of the season; he was previously honored on the 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 garner All-America laurels from the AFCA and AP.
Pechin's awards haul in the 2018 off-season has been impressive. In addition to his six 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. In addition, he was selected as one of seven finalists for the Football Championship Subdivision Athletics Directors Association's Postgraduate Scholarship and was named to the organization's Academic All-Star Team for the second year in a row.
One of the finest punters in Bucknell history, Pechin finished first in the FCS in punts (81) and punting yards (3,606) and fourth in punting average (44.5) in 2018. The only punter in the FCS's top five with at least 65 punts, and one of only two in the top 10 with that same number, he broke the school record in punts while posting the second-best punting average in the Bison annals. Of his 81 punts, a career-best 29 sailed for at least 50 yards while 28 landed inside the 20.
Pechin owns Bucknell's 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.
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