MICHAEL PODOBNIK NAMED FIRST-TEAM D2FOOTBALL.COM
ALL-AMERICAN SELECTION

        RUSSELLVILLE, Arkansas – Arkansas Tech Wonder Boy All-America punter Michael Podobnik continued to collect All-American honors on Friday as he was named a First-Team D2Football.com All-American selection.

Podobnik was one of 10 Gulf South Conference players named to one of the three D2Football.com All-America teams and one of three first-team selections from the GSC.

This season’s D2Football.com All-American Team features 100 players from 54 different schools and the team is selected by the staff of D2Football.com with input from coaches and sports information directors from around the country. This is the seventh time D2Football.com has selected an All-American team.

Northwest Missouri running back Xavier Omon was named the D2Football.com Offensive Player of the Year, while Delta State linebacker Michael Eubanks was named the Defensive Player of the Year and Valdosta State’s David Dean was named the Coach of the Year after leading the Blazers to the 2007 NCAA Division II National Championship.

Podobnik becomes the second Wonder Boy to be named a D2Football.com All-American as former defensive end Tommy Edwards was named a two-time First-Team All-American selection in 2002 and 2003.

Other GSC players named first-team D2Football.com All-Americans were Eubanks and Valdosta State defensive back Sherard Reynolds, while Valdosta State receiver Cedric Jones and VSU linebacker William Montford were named second-team selections. Harding quarterback David Knighton, Henderson State offensive lineman Kurt Kutscher, North Alabama defensive lineman Tim Hunt, Henderson State defensive back Devon Hughes and North Alabama defensive back Craig Fox were named honorable mention selections.

Podobnik, a native of Frankfort, Ill., earns his fourth All-America honor of the season after a record-setting season for the Wonder Boys. This past season, Podobnik, who was a First-Team All-GSC selection as a punter and second-team selection as a kicker and was also named a First-Team Daktronics All-Southeast Region selection, led the GSC and NCAA Division II in punting with a 45.2 yard average per punt. In 10 games, he punted 43 times for 1,945 yards and had seven touchbacks and downed eight punts inside the 20-yard line. In addition, he had 13 punts over 50 yards, including a season-best 75-yard punt in the fourth quarter of Tech’s season opener at Northeastern State. Podobnik’s 45.2 yard average set a new single-season Tech and GSC mark. The previous Tech mark of 42.0 yards was set in 2003 by Tommy Edwards, while the old GSC mark of 43.5 yards was set in 1982 by Jacksonville State’s Greg Lowery. On the season, Podobnik was named the GSC Special Teams Player of the Week three times and was named the D2Football.com National Special Teams Player of the Week following the Harding game on Nov. 3. Against Harding, Podobnik averaged 52.5 yards on his four punts, which set a new Tech single-game record for punting average (51.0 was the previous record) and placed two punts inside the 20-yard line and boomed a 63-yard punt in the fourth quarter.

Already this season, Podobnik was named an AP Little All-America, a Daktronics Division II All-American and an AFCA Division II Coaches’ All-American.  

Listed below is the complete D2Football.com First-Team All-American team.  

OFFENSE                       Pos.   Yr.     School (Hometown)

Mike Reilly                      QB       Jr.      Central Washington

Xavier Omon                  RB       Sr.     Northwest Missouri State

Danny Woodhead           RB       Sr.     Chadron State

Almonzo Banks               WR     Sr.     West Liberty State

Weston Dressler              WR     Sr.     North Dakota

Mike Peterson                 TE      Sr.     Northwest Missouri State

Heath Benedict               OL       Sr.     Newberry

Mackenzy Bernadeau      OL      Sr.     Bentley

Tim McCutcheon             OL      Sr.     California [PA]

Brandon Barnes              OL      Sr.     Grand Valley State

Ben Hochstein                 OL      Sr.     Nebraska-Omaha

DEFENSE

Brandon Swain                DL      Jr.      West Texas A&M

Jake Visser                      DL      Jr.      Ferris State

Alex Hall                         DL       Sr.     St. Augustine’s

Curtis Johnson                DL      Sr.     Clark Atlanta

Michael Eubanks             LB       Sr.     Delta State

Anthony Adams              LB      Sr.     Grand Valley State

Eric Rice                          LB      Sr.     Carson-Newman

Darren Banks                  DB      Sr.     West Liberty State

Sherard Reynolds            DB      Jr.      Valdosta State

Kendall Ricketts               DB      Sr.     Central Missouri

Brandon Carr                  DB      Sr.     Grand Valley State


         SPECIALISTS

Michael Podobnik         P         Jr.      Arkansas Tech

Jared Keating                  K        Jr.      Mesa State

De’Audra Dix                  AP       Sr.     Johnson C. Smith

          Complete D2.Football.com All-American Teams

 -- Tech Athletics --