Nov. 5, 2009

Stephen Blose, Brian Mellott First-Team Academic All-District IV Picks

District Four University Division Selections

Youngstown -- Senior offensive guard Brian Mellott (Austintown, Ohio) and junior placekicker Stephen Blose  (Erie, Pa.) have been selected to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV first team, the College Sports Information Directors of America announced on Thursday.

Both players are now eligible for Academic All-America honors. All first-team selections from eight districts have a chance at the Academic All-America squad. Both student-athletes are repeat selections from 2008. Last year, Blose was a first-team all-district pick while Mellott was a second-team member.

The 2009 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America squad will be announced on Tuesday, Nov. 24.

Mellott is the only offensive lineman to start all eight games for the Penguins this season. In his career he has started a team-high 19 games on the line. He posted a 3.90 grade-point average in accounting as an undergrad and is currently enrolled in grad school.

Blose has made 5-of-11 field-goal attempts in his first full-year as placekicker this season, including 48-yard kicks at Pittsburgh and against South Dakota State last Saturday. Blose is a perfect 19-of-19 on extra-point kicks this year. He has handled kickoff duties for the Guins each of the last three years. He has 130 kickoffs to his credit, including 31 this season.

The last time YSU had two players named first-team Academic All-District in the same year was 2001 (Mike Thomas and Antulio Aroche). The last Penguin to receive Academic All-America honors was Scott Thiessen in 2003 (first team).

The Penguins travel to Cedar Falls, Iowa, to take on 11th-ranked UNI this Saturday. Kickoff is set for 5:05 p.m. Eastern time at the UNI Dome.