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TOP STORY
1. Cortland Edges North Central For DIII Football Championship

by Associated Press

“Zac Boyes threw for 349 yards and five touchdowns and rushed for 123 yards, Cortland stopped a 2-point conversion attempt with 90 seconds remaining, and the Red Dragons beat defending champion North Central 38-37 on Friday night for their first NCAA Division III championship.

Cortland (14-1), playing in the Stagg Bowl for the first time in program history, handed North Central (14-1) its first loss since the 2021 championship game. The Cardinals, in their fourth straight title game, won the 2019 national title in addition to last year.

Both teams scored in the final 1:41 -- with North Central electing to go for 2 instead of a potential tying extra point with 1:20 to go. Quarterback Luke Lehnen was stuffed on a run to the left side and Cortland recovered an onside kick and ran out the clock.”

» Field Awareness. “North Central entered with the nation's longest active win streak with 29. South Dakota State, which won its FCS semifinal game on Friday, has 28 straight wins, followed by Washington (20), Florida State (19) and Division II Harding (18).”

» By The Numbers. “Boyes became the second quarterback in school history to throw for 300 yards and rush for 100. Cole Burgess finished with 11 catches for 134 yards and two touchdowns for Cortland. Joe Iadevaio also had two touchdown grabs and 95 yards. JJ Laap made two catches for 75 yards and a score. Lehnen, who won the Gagliardi Trophy, the premier D-III individual award, threw for 179 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for 159 yards and another score for North Central. Joe Sacco added 159 yards rushing, including his 20th rushing touchdown of the season, to reach the 100-yard mark for the 11th time this season.”

» Continue Reading.

» Game Highlights

FOOTBALL
2. All-America Team

North Central quarterback Luke Lehnen, Wartburg linebacker Owen Grover and Wheaton running back Giovanni Weeks highlight the 2023 D3football.com All-America team. It’s the 25th season D3football.com has named an All-America team.”

First Team Offense
QB-Luke Lehnen, North Central, Jr.
RB-Giovanni Weeks, Wheaton (Ill.), Sr.
RB-Hunter Clasen, Wartburg, Sr.
WR-Wayne Ruby Jr., Mount Union, Sr.
WR-DeAngelo Hardy, North Central, Sr.
TE-Alex LArson, Saint John’s, Sr.
OT-Mike Bertoia, UW-La Crosse, Sr.
OG-Matt Kickel, Aurora, Sr.
OC-Jarod Thornton, North Central, Sr.
OG-Vinny LePre, Grove City, Sr.
OT-Jaske Maples, North Central, Jr.

First Team Defense
DE-Justin Blazek, UW-Platteville, Sr.
DT-Dawson Dietz, Washington & Jefferson, Jr.
DT-Riley Konrardy, Wartburg, Sr.
DE-Rossy Moore, Mount Union, Jr.
LB-Odin Soffredine, Alma, Sr.
LB-Ben Stola, Ithaca, Sr.
LB-Owen Grover, Wartburg, Sr.
CB-Raylens Boutin, Brockport, Sr.
S-Parker Rochford, Wartburg, Jr.
S-Derek Slywka, Ithaca, Sr.
CB-Josh Jones, Mount Union, Sr.

First Team Specialists
K-Michael Stack, UW-La Crosse, So.
P-Andrew Toler, Rose-Hulman, Sr.
KR-James Mautino, Aurora, Sr.
ST-Braden Hargrove, Hardin-Simmons, Sr.

Offensive Player of the Year: Luke Lehnen, QB, North Central
Defensive Player of the Year: Owen Grover, LB, Wartburg

» Complete Team

STUDENTS
3. Student Athletes’ Mental Health Has Improved, but Not for All

by Johanna Alonso, Inside Higher Ed

“The mental health of student athletes has improved since the pandemic, the NCAA’s latest Student-Athlete Health and Wellness Study shows, with fewer athletes reporting feeling overwhelmed, mentally exhausted or lonely than at the height of the COVID-19 outbreak.

But disparities remain; female athletes, athletes of color and LGBTQ+ athletes still report disproportionately high rates of struggling with their mental health.”

» Situational Awareness. “The four most common mental health concerns for all athletes surveyed were insomnia, mental exhaustion, anxiety and feeling overwhelmed. Women experienced all four symptoms at much higher rates than men; 44 percent of female athletes reported feeling overwhelmed, for example, compared to just 17 percent of male athletes.”

» Why It Matters. “The mental health disparities between students of different races have led the NCAA, which surveyed more than 23,000 student athletes from its member institutions during the 2022–23 academic year, to re-evaluate its Mental Health Best Practices, a document that provides athletic and sports medicine departments of all sizes with recommendations for supporting players’ mental health.”

» What They’re Saying. “It just highlights our need to have conversations and programming specific for … our LGBTQ and our BIPOC student athletes as well. There needs to be education that is tailored to our vulnerable populations,” said Betsy Cutler, a consultant who specializes in student athlete mental health”

» Continue Reading

RULES
4. Playing Rules Surveys

In an effort to reduce an influx of emails, all playing rules surveys issued during the 2023-24 academic year for athletics directors, commissioners and senior woman administrators will be available on a single surveys page. NCAA research made the switch due to membership feedback and estimates that this will reduce emails by 40-60 per year.

Invitations to complete each playing rules survey will continue to be sent directly to head coaches and officials in the sport. However, athletics administrators will be made aware of these surveys via the NCAA Weekly as they become available throughout the year. Consider bookmarking the survey page and checking it periodically for open surveys in the sports you sponsor. Upcoming surveys include football (Jan. 15-Feb. 15), wrestling (March 4-29) and bowling (March 4-April 5).

This process will be evaluated after the first few surveys and may be modified if response rates are determined to be too low. If you have any questions regarding this change in survey process, please contact [email protected].”

NEWS
5. Lightning Round

🗞 News. “Methodist University is making some changes to what Major programs they will be offering moving forward, changing them from full Major offerings to smaller courses that will still be available to students in some form - Fine Art, Music, Music Performance and Music Composition, Special Education, and Secondary Education.

🗞 News. Middlebury standout Amy Griffin was honored as the NFHCA National DIII Player of the Year.

🗞 News. A pair of top-20 teams fell on Saturday as #20 Illinois Wesleyan bested #11 Chicago, 73-63, and #24 UW-Stout topped #17 Trine, 77-76.

STREAMING
6. What We’re Watching Online

 
🏀 WBB: Texas-Dallas (7-2) vs. #14 Hardin-Simmons (8-1), 200
🏀 MBB: #19 Trine (7-0) vs. Anderson (7-2), 200
🏀 WBB: #5 UW-Whitewater (9-0) vs. Manhattanville (7-0), 300
🏀 MBB: Texas-Dallas (6-2) vs. Hardin-Simmons (8-2), 400

TRANSACTIONS
7. Comings and Goings

• DREW - Nick Kozak named assistant athletic director 

• GORDON - Lindsey Terjanian named head women’s lacrosse coach

• PRINCIPIA - Jess Semnacher stepped down as head men’s soccer coach

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