From Carnegie Mellon University Athletics
The Carnegie Mellon University football team had eight members named to the Academic All-District football team by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Thursday, November 5. To be nominated for the award, a student-athlete must be a starter or significant reserve and maintain a GPA of 3.3 or better.
Carnegie Mellon is part of District 4 which is comprised of all Division III schools in the state of Pennsylvania. All eight honorees advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Team ballot, where first-, second- and third-team All-America honorees will be selected later this month.
Two of the eight Tartans are making their second appearance on the all-district team after garnering the honor a year ago; senior offensive lineman Will French (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton-La Salle) and junior defensive lineman Brian Khoury (Davenport, Iowa/Bettendorf). Besides French and Khoury, three others received recognition on the offensive side of the ball as well as the defensive. Senior quarterback Andrew Hearon (Tulsa, Okla./Metro Christian Academy), sophomore running back Sam Benger (Hingham, Mass.) and fellow junior offensive lineman W. Tyler Reid (Lees Summit, Mo /Lees Summit West) join French on the offense. On defense, senior corner back Vince Demarchi (Chesterland, Ohio / West Geauga) and junior safety Samer Abdelmoty (McLean, Va.), along with Khoury's defensive line counterpart, junior Jack Fagan (Milford, Pa./Delaware Valley) round out the eight selected.
French and Reid have been at the forefront of the offensive line, as the Tartans have recorded 500 plus yards in four games this season including a 621 yard outing at Thiel. The two have led the way for Benger, the nation's leading rusher and school's all-time single-season rushing leader with 1,453 yards. Earlier this season, Benger set the single-game rushing record with 303 yards against then nationally ranked Washington & Jefferson College. Hearon threw for a career-best 286 yards at Washington U. to open the season and currently has a streak of four straight games with multiple touchdown passes including four in the Tartans' win over Bethany. The signal caller ranks sixth on the school's all-time passing list with 3,254 yards.
On defense, Khoury leads the nation in sacks and recently set the school's single-season sack record, with 13.5 sacks on the season. In the Tartans' win over Saint Vincent College on October 24, Khoury broke the Tartan single-game record with 4.0 sacks. Fagan has record 24 tackles this season with 5.5 for a loss including 2.0 sacks. He tabbed a career-best six tackles against Bethany. Demarchi has recorded one interception and five pass breakups this season along with two blocked extra points. Abdelmoty ranks second on the team with four interceptions and eight passes defended. He recorded a career-best 11 tackles, seven solo, early this season against Washington & Jefferson.
French is working on a double major in chemical engineering and public policy and carries a 3.63 GPA. He has worked for L'Oreal in Franklin, New Jersey, as a packaging intern. He is a member of the Carnegie Mellon AIChE Chapter and EPP Department Student Advisory Council as well as a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Carnegie Mellon Neumann Club.
Reid carries a 3.74 GPA and is an electrical and computer engineering major. He has been on the dean's list in the college of engineering multiple semesters and participated in the Susan G. Komen Pittsburgh Lift-A-Thon fundraiser. Reid is a three-time University Athletic Association (UAA) Academic honoree and a member of the Student Athletics Advisory Council (SAAC).
Hearon, a civil and environmental engineering major, has a 3.76 GPA and is a three-time UAA Academic honoree along with a member of the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) honor roll. Hearon is a member of the Chi Epsilon Honors Society.
Benger is also a PAC honor roll member and has a 3.70 GPA as a business administration major. He is a member of Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity and is part of the Carnegie Mellon Athletics Department's Plaidvocates Program, a peer health and wellness advocacy program for athletes that supports the health and well-being of Carnegie Mellon's varsity athletics community
Khoury has a 3.49 GPA and is an electrical and computer engineering major. Prior to coming to Carnegie Mellon, he played four years of junior hockey in the developmental leagues. Khoury is a member of the Carnegie Mellon Solar Racing team, where he is the President and Power Team Co-Chair. The junior is also a member of Fellowship of Christian Athletes and received the Ford Blue Oval Vehicle Team Scholarship.
Fagan carries a 3.57 GPA and is a business administration major with a concentration in international management with a minor in Hispanic studies. Off the field he was a Relay for Life and Pennsylvania Special Olympics captain, as well as a 1000Plus volunteer. Fagan is also a member of the Carnegie Mellon University Wall Street Club and was an intern at Stone Pier Capital Advisors and Eastern Funding LLC. He was also the Finance Head for the Google LunarX Prize competition team for the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon.
Demarchi carries a 3.80 GPA in the classroom while studying business administration with a concentration of finance and a minor in technology and policy. He is also a member of the Carnegie Mellon University Wall Street Club. Demarchi has interned at HDT Global, Inc. and was a Debt Capital Markets Summer Analyst for PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. this past summer. The senior is also part of the Mortar Board National College Senior Honor Society which coordinates and participates in community service projects around Carnegie Mellon's campus and the city of Pittsburgh.
Abdelmoty, a mechanical engineering major, has a 3.54 GPA and is the vice president and founding father of Carnegie Mellon's chapter of Theta Tau Nu fraternity, the largest U.S. professional engineering fraternity. He is a Mechanical Engineering Student Advisory Council representative and vice president of the Arab student organization. This past fall he worked on the CERLAB Research Project. He was one of 15 mechanical engineering students selected to perform research to develop an autonomous UAV system that can navigate in an indoor environment for 3D geometric measurement and inspection.