Nov. 5, 2009
2009 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Football Teams in PDF Format 
BALTIMORE, MD -- The Johns Hopkins University football team, which will enter Saturday's game at Franklin & Marshall with a 6-2 overall record, placed seven players on the 2009 CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Football Team, which was announced today. The seven overall selections and five first team picks are the most among all teams in District II and give the Johns Hopkins football program 36 Academic All-District selections in the last seven years and 62 selections since 1991. The seven overall selections and five first team picks also tie the Johns Hopkins record for most in one year. The 2003 team produced seven overall all-district selections, including five first teamers.
Three Blue Jays are repeat selections to the team, including senior defensive lineman Steve Levinson (Villanova, PA/Penn Charter), who garnered first team honors for the second consecutive year. Joining Levinson as repeat honorees are senior offensive linemen Mike Stoffel (Livingston, NJ/Livingston) and Anthony Catanzano (Seaford, NY/Kellenberg), who both earned first team status this year after earning second team honors last season. Rounding out the five first team picks for the Blue Jays are senior defensive lineman Glenn Rocca (Westwood, NJ/Westwood) and sophomore wide receiver Sam Wernick (Dallas, TX/Dallas Jesuit).
As first team selections, Levinson, Stoffel, Catanzano, Rocca and Wernick will now go on the ballot for national Academic All-America honors. The ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Football Team is due to be announced on November 24.
Rounding out JHU's seven selections are sophomore linebacker Ryan Piatek (Sewell, NJ/Bishop Eustace) and junior punter Max Islinger (Furlong, PA/Central Bucks East), who both grabbed second team honors.
Levinson, an international studies major with a 3.79 cumulative grade point average, is in his second season as a defensive lineman as he made the switch last season after playing two years on the offensive line. He has started the first eight games this season at nose guard and ranks 10th overall and second among defensive linemen on the team in tackles (16). He also has 3.0 tackles for losses, 1.5 sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. A Second Team All-Centennial selection last season, Levinson is also a member of the Johns Hopkins track and field team. Levinson speaks English, Spanish and Portuguese and completed an internship with the Altria Group, where he gained experience managing multimillion dollar accounts. He also spent last summer working in the office of Senator Bob Casey Jr. in the Philadelphia area.
Stoffel is majoring in natural sciences and carries a 3.59 cumulative grade point average. He has anchored the Johns Hopkins offensive line since taking over as a starter at left tackle midway through his freshman year and will carry a streak of 33 straight starts into Saturday's game against Franklin & Marshall. He anchors an offensive line that is paving the way for a unit averaging 30.6 points and 376.8 yards of total offense. JHU has also allowed just two sacks in 239 pass attempts this season. The two sacks JHU has allowed are tied for the second-fewest in the nation. Stoffel earned Second Team All-Centennial honors as a sophomore and First Team honors as a junior, when he also earned First Team All-ECAC Southwest and Third Team d3football.com All-South Region honors. He has been active with Johns Hopkins' Pen Lucy Youth Partnership - a tutoring program for Baltimore children in the areas of math, science, and reading - and completed an internship at the UMDNJ Dental School.
Catanzano is closing out his second season as a starter for the Blue Jays at right tackle and has started 18 of the last 19 games dating back to last season. He carries a 3.47 cumulative grade point average as a natural sciences major. He joins Stoffel on an offensive line that is paving the way for a unit averaging 30.6 points and 376.8 yards of total offense. JHU has also allowed just two sacks in 239 pass attempts this season. The two sacks JHU has allowed are tied for the second-fewest in the nation. He has served as an Emergency Room Volunteer at the Winthrop University Hospital (NY) and completed an Internship in orthopaedic research at the Feinstein Institute. He has also been active with Johns Hopkins' Pen Lucy Youth Partnership - a tutoring program for Baltimore children in the areas of math, science, and reading.
Rocca boasts a 3.49 cumulative grade point average with a major in economics and a minor in entrepreneurship and management. He is enjoying the finest season of his career as he counts 41 tackles, 7.5 tackles for losses and 4.0 sacks to his credit. He leads the team in sacks, ranks second in tackles for losses and fourth in overall tackles (most among defensive linemen). He registered the 100th tackle of his career in last week's 58-7 win at Juniata and now has 102 tackles, including 13.0 tackles for losses and 7.5 sacks, to his credit. Rocca has completed internships in the Wealth Management Division at Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch and volunteers with "Athlete's Care," acting as a mentor for foster children in Baltimore City.
Wernick is the only sophomore offensive player to earn First Team All-District honors in District II. He is majoring in political science and has a 3.64 cumulative grade point average. He currently leads the team in receiving with 34 receptions for 286 yards and one touchdown and also has five kickoff returns for 72 yards to his credit. He now has career totals of 71 receptions for 949 yards and five touchdowns and is believed to be the only wide receiver in college football history to catch two touchdown passes of 80 yards or longer in one game (81 and 91 vs. Muhlenberg last season). Wernick is also a member of the Johns Hopkins baseball team.
Piatek is enjoying a tremendous season in his first year as a starter. An economics major with a 3.59 cumulative grade point average, he is tied for second on the team with 50 tackles despite missing one full game and most of another. He also has 7.5 tackles for losses, 3.0 sacks, one interception, one pass breakup, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery to his credit. Piatek is the young leader of a defense that leads the Centennial Conference in total defense (268.1), rushing defense (91.5) and forced turnovers (25).
Islinger rounds out JHU's selections and is the first Blue Jay punter or place-kicker to earn Academic All-District honors. An economics major with a 3.43 cumulative grade point average, Islinger is averaging 31.5 yards on 32 punts this season and has dropped eight of his 32 punts inside the opposition's 20-yard line. He owns the fourth-longest punt in school history, a 71-yarder in the 2008 ECAC Southeast Championship game against Catholic. Islinger interned at Merrill Lynch last summer and is currently interning with the Middleton Gardiner Group in their Private Wealth Management Division. He has served as a research assistant in Johns Hopkins Deptartment of Economics and has volunteered with Habitat for Humanity and with Family of God Lutheran Church repairing homes in impoverished areas. He is active with the Adopt a Highway Program (cleaning highways and roads) and JHU's Penn Lucy Tutoring Program for inner-city kids.
The District II region includes Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Athletes named to the first team qualify for the national ballot. To be nominated for the CoSIDA Academic All-America program, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore with a 3.3 or higher cumulative grade point average and be a starter or significant reserve.
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