COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Benedict College Tigers had three football players named to the 2023 Academic All-District® Football teams, selected by College Sports Communicators (CSC), it was announced on Tuesday.
 
Senior defensive end Loobert Denelus and graduate Ja'ron Kilpatrick were both named Academic-District® for the second year in a row, and are joined by graduate Mitchell Romig.
 
Academic All-District® honorees were considered for advancement to the CSC Academic All-America® ballot. All three will now advance to the national ballot to be voted on by CSC members. First-, second- and third-team Academic All-America® honorees will be announced Jan. 23, 2024.
 
Denelus and Kilpatrick were both named Academic All-Americans® last year.
 
Denelus, a senior psychology major, has a 3.85 GPA. He is a two-time SIAC Defensive Player of the Year, two-time AFCA All-American, and was the only Division II finalist for the Campbell Trophy, presented to the top football student-athlete in the country.
 
Kilpatrick, in the Master of Sport Management program, has a 3.73 GPA in graduate school and had a 3.84 undergrad GPA. He was named All-SIAC first team all-purpose defense and ranked 39^th in the NCAA in interceptions per game.
 
Romig, in the Master of Business Administration program, has a 4.0 GPA in graduate school and had a 3.67 undergrad GPA. He earns Academic All-District® honors for the third year in a row. He was the starting center for the Tigers who led SIAC in rushing yards per game and. Benedict's offensive line gave up 15 sacks in 12 games. He was named first-team All-SIAC and All-American by BoxToRow.
 
Benedict was the only member of the SIAC with players selected to the 2023 Academic All-District® Football team. Benedict and Winston-Salem State from the CIAA were the only Division II HBCUs with representatives.
 
The Division II and III CSC Academic All-America® programs are financially supported in part by the NCAA Division II and III national governance structures to assist CSC with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2023-24 Divisions II and III Academic All-America® programs.

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