2018 GOOGLE CLOUD (CoSIDA) ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA D-III FOOTBALL TEAMS
MINNEAPOLIS -- For the second straight year, Augsburg University offensive lineman
Christopher Lemke (SR, Glencoe, Minn./Glencoe-Silver Lake HS) was named to the Google Cloud Academic All-America Division III Football Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), as a first-team honoree on Wednesday.
A chemistry major with a 3.96 grade-point average, Lemke is the 11th Augsburg student-athlete to earn multiple Academic All-America honors from CoSIDA. Augsburg football players have now been honored 14 times as CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, including five who have earned the honor twice. Across all sports, Augsburg student-athletes have now been honored 42 times with CoSIDA Academic All-America honors since 1981, including 32 honors since 2000. Among the 13 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schools, Augsburg has had the fourth-most CoSIDA Academic All-Americans all-time.
Lemke was one of 11 players to repeat as selections on the 51-member Google Cloud Academic All-America Division III Football Team, divided into a 25-member first team and 26-member second team. Lemke was one of six repeat first-team honorees, and was one of two MIAC players to earn Academic All-America honors, joining Saint John's senior wide receiver Will Gillach.
The honor caps an outstanding career for Lemke, who earned
All-MIAC Second Team honors in both 2018 and 2017, while earning All-MIAC Honorable Mention honors in 2016. In November, Lemke was named to the
Google Drive (CoSIDA) Academic All-District team for the third straight year, and earned
Google Drive (CoSIDA) Academic All-America first-team honors last season. He has served as a team co-captain the last two seasons. He also earned Academic All-MIAC honors in both his sophomore and junior seasons, and will likely be named again when the award is given this spring.
A three-year starter at center for the Auggies, Lemke was part of an offensive line that enabled the team to average 270.4 yards per-game (825 rushing yards, 1,879 passing yards) this season, while allowing 84 tackles for-loss and 30 sacks. Under 14th-year head coach
Frank Haege, Augsburg's football team finished 2-8 overall, 0-8 in MIAC play in 2018.
He has appeared in 34 games over his Augsburg career, including all 30 games in the last three seasons. During his 34 career games, Augsburg has produced 11,211 yards of total offense (329.7 yards per-game), including 3,518 rushing yards and 7,693 passing yards, while allowing 262 tackles for-loss and 93 sacks.
The
Google Cloud Academic All-America program is administered by the
College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Top student-athletes, who have already earned Google Cloud Academic All-District first-team honors, are eligible for inclusion on the Google Cloud Academic All-America team. Student-athletes must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at their current institutions, have a grade-point average above 3.30 (4.0 scale) and have outstanding athletic credentials. The Google Cloud Academic All-America ballot is voted on by a committee of CoSIDA members, along with sports information directors in the various divisions. Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Google Cloud Academic All-America honors on more than 20,000 student-athletes in NCAA Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.
Google Cloud, a cloud computing services program for businesses, recently signed on as the title sponsor for
CoSIDA's Academic All-District/Academic All-America programs. The Division III Google Cloud Academic All-America program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division III national governance structure, to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the Google Cloud Division III Academic All-America teams program.
This is the eighth year of the expanded Google Cloud Academic All-America program, with separate teams comprising NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III participants, along with a College Division team of NAIA, Canadian and two-year schools. First-team Google Cloud Academic All-District members advance to the Google Cloud Academic All-America ballot, voted on by a committee of CoSIDA members.
Augsburg College's All-Time CoSIDA Academic All-Americans:
Christopher Lemke, football, 2018 (first team)
Ashley St. Aubin, women's soccer, 2018 (second team)
Nate Flynn, men's ice hockey (men's at-large), 2018 (first team)
Victor Gliva, wrestling (men's at-large), 2018 (first team)
Sam Bennyhoff, wrestling (men's at-large), 2018 (second team)
Christopher Lemke, football, 2017 (first team)
Nate Flynn, men's ice hockey (men's at-large), 2017 (second team)
Mary Cornelius, women's track and field/cross country, 2016 (third team)
Erika Allen, women's ice hockey (women's at-large), 2016 (second team)
Zach Swingen, football, 2015 (first team)
Chris DeVet, football, 2014 (first team)
Zach Swingen, football, 2014 (second team)
Lauren Rice, women's track and field/cross country, 2014 (first team)
Elianna Bier, women's swimming and diving (women's at-large), 2014 (second team)
Chad Thompson, football, 2013 (second team)
Chris DeVet, football, 2013 (second team)
Bri Dorale, softball, 2013 (first team)
Chad Thompson, football, 2012 (first team)
Tony Valek, wrestling (men's at-large), 2012 (first team)
Tony Valek, wrestling (men's at-large), 2011 (first team)
Alex Hildebrandt, men's soccer, 2009 (second team)
Alex Hildebrandt, men's soccer, 2008 (third team)
Nick Manders, men's soccer, 2007 (second team)
Andrew Neumann, football, 2006 (second team)
Ryan Valek, wrestling (men's at-large), 2006 (first team)
Riley Conway, men's track and field/cross country, 2005 (second team)
Mark Matzek, wrestling (men's at-large), 2005 (first team)
Ryan Valek, wrestling (men's at-large), 2005 (third team)
Darren Ginther, baseball, 2005 (first team)
Brent Peroutka, football, 2001 (second team)
Josh Cagle, wrestling (men's at-large), 2000 (first team)
Brian Jones, wrestling (men's at-large), 2000 (second team)
Josh Cagle, wrestling (men's at-large), 1999 (second team)
Jim Peterson, wrestling (men's at-large), 1999 (second team)
Scott Hvistendahl, football, 1998 (second team)
Ted Schultz, football, 1997 (first team)
Scott Hvistendahl, football, 1997 (second team)
Dan Lewandowski, wrestling (men's at-large), 1997 (second team)
Andrea Haight, softball, 1991 (second team)
Karen Sterner, track and field (women's at-large), 1987 (second team)
Karen Sterner, track and field (women's at-large), 1986 (first team)
Paul Elliot, football, 1981 (only one team selected)
(NOTE: Story includes information taken from Augsburg's 2018 All-MIAC football release and previous Academic All-America releases.)
