Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Football Places League-Best 41 on PL Academic Honor Roll
1/31/2020 12:00:00 PM | Football
This was the fourth-straight year the Bison boasted at least 40 Academic Honor Roll members. This season's number represented exactly 50 percent of the team's roster and was headlined by consensus All-American punter Alex Pechin, junior linebacker Rick Mottram, a 2019 CoSIDA Academic All-American, and sophomore defensive lineman Grayson Cherubino, who joined Mottram on the 2019 CoSIDA Academic All-District 2 Team.
Bucknell placed five more student-athletes on the Academic Honor Roll than second-place Fordham (36). The Bison, Rams and Georgetown were the only teams with at least 35 Academic Honor Roll honorees in 2019.
Simon Behr, a junior tight end, recorded a perfect 4.0 grade point average. In addition, Cherubino, Mottram, Pechin and senior quarterback John Chiarolanzio recorded grade point averages north of 3.90. Of the team's 41 honorees, 27 made the Bucknell Dean's List with a GPA of 3.50 or higher, helping their team register a combined GPA of 3.05 during the fall academic period.
Earlier this off-season, Pechin became the first football player to be honored as the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year for three-straight years. The fifth year Biomedical Engineering/Management for Engineers double major also became the first Patriot League student-athlete to capture the prestigious STATS FCS Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete Award. Pechin and Mottram both represented Bucknell on the 2019 Academic All-Patriot League Team; it was Pechin's third appearance on the squad and Mottram's second.Â
Pechin earned a spot on the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll for the fifth-straight year. The following seniors made the listing each of the past four seasons: Chiarolanzio, cornerback Mike Caruso, linebacker Sam Chitty and running back Chad Freshnock. Chitty and Pechin served as team captains in 2019.
A year ago, Bucknell placed 45 student-athletes on the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll. In 2017, the Bison set a new school record for the fifth season in a row by placing 48 student-athletes on the listing. They had 46 Patriot League Academic Honor Roll members in 2016.
To qualify for the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll, student-athletes must have achieved a minimum 3.20 GPA during the semester in which their team competed. A total of 225 football players were honored this season. The following are the Bucknell football team's 2019 Patriot League Academic Honor Roll members:
Mike Balzofiore, Sr., Political Science*
Simon Behr, Jr., Accounting & Financial Management*
Logan Bitikofer, Jr., Education
Alex Bolinger, Jr., Political Science*
Ryan Brida, Jr., Political Science*
Max Bunzel, So., Undeclared-Management
Eric Butler, Jr., Sociology*
Mike Caruso, Sr., Economics*
Grayson Cherubino, So., Undeclared-Management*
John Chiarolanzio, Sr., Accounting & Financial Management*
Sam Chitty, Sr., Economics*
Mike Colantuono, Jr., Political Science
Sterling Deary, So., Undeclared*
Tarrin Earle, So., Undeclared-Management*
Jon Fox, Sr., Political Science
Chad Freshnock, Sr., Political Science
Brent Jackson, Fr., Undeclared-Management*
Tyler Keiser, Sr., Civil Engineering/Management for Engineers*
Michael Killiri, So., Chemical Engineering*
Simon Krizak, Jr., International Relations
Nick Lizana, Fr., Undeclared*
Erik Lukner, Sr., Anthropology
Dominic Lyles, So., Undeclared
Cole McCabe, So., Undeclared
John McGuire, Jr., Economics*
Rick Mottram, Jr., Mechanical Engineering*
Clay Myers, Jr., Environmental Studies
Sean Naiman, Sr., Environmental Studies*
Simeon Page, Jr., English-Creative Writing*
Alex Pechin, 5th, Biomedical Engineering/Management for Engineers*
John Reedy, Sr., Economics*
Conner Romango, Jr., Accounting & Financial Management*
Jacob Russ, So., Undeclared-Management
Joe Schiano, 5th, History*
Jonathan Searcy, Fr., Undeclared
Charlie Shadek, Fr., Undeclared*
Daniel Sheehan, So., Undeclared-Management*
Hayden Snyder, Fr., Mechanical Engineering/Management for Engineers*
Alex Twiford, Jr., Sociology*
Nnamdi Unachukwu, Jr., Psychology/Africana Studies
Jake Wilson, Sr., Political Science
