Eight Football Players Named CoSIDA Academic All-District
(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon University football team had eight members named to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District Football Team on Thursday. This marks the fourth straight season the Tartans have had at least eight receive the honor. 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 announced December 16.
Senior offensive lineman Sean Pogorelc (Centreville, Va./Chantilly), senior defensive back Sean Knight (New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan) and junior defensive back Aryan Hegde (Brambleton, Va./Rock Ridge) are being honored for the second consecutive season. Five others, senior offensive lineman Thomas Yager (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine Township South), junior defensive lineman Ben Coyne (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette), junior punter Casey Jaeb (San Jose, Calif./Bellarmine Prep), sophomore running back Tre Vasiliadis (Great Falls, Va./Langley) and sophomore linebacker / special teams honoree Kevin Cooke (Glen Ellyn, Ill./IC Catholic Prep), are being recognized for the first time.
Pogorlec, a four-year starter, and Yager, a three-year starter, played a huge factor in the blocking upfront. The three paved the way for Vasiliadis and the Tartans, who were third in the PAC in rushing offense with 170.4 yards per game. Vasiliadis leads the PAC with 1,120 rushing yards and 112.0 rushing yards per game. His 16 rushing touchdowns and 102 points score rank second in the league and 13th nationally. He became the fifth player in Carnegie Mellon history to reach the 1,000-yard plateau and ninth overall in a single-season. In the Tartans win at Geneva, he rushed for a career-best 268 yards, which ranks second most in a single-game for a Tartan.
Knight, Hegde and Coyne helped the Tartans defense lead the PAC in scoring defense and ranked fifth in the nation allowing 8.7 points per game. The Cardinal and Gray additionally led the league and was 18th nationally in total defense giving up 246.7 yards per contest. Carnegie Mellon also forced a league best 31 turnovers. The three played a huge part as well in the Tartans rush defense that ranked second in the PAC allowing 69.2 yards per game and held eight opponents under 100 yards on the ground and six under 50 yards rushing.
Knight ended the regular season tied for the PAC lead with five interceptions. The senior has 34 total tackles, 29 solo, and ranks sixth on the team in tackle. Earlier this season, Knight recorded his third career multi-interception game in a win over Waynesburg. He has 14 INTs for his career, ranking tied for second in program history and needs one more to move into a tie for first. Hegde is the Tartans third leading tackler with 46, 28 solo, and has two interceptions. The junior also has recorded a forced fumble and has three passes defended. Coyne leads the team with 6.5 sacks and ranks fifth in the PAC.
Jaeb ranks second in the PAC averaging 36.2 yards per punt on 45 punts with a career-long of 60. The junior landed 15 of his punts inside the opponent's 20-yard line while six have been fair caught. Cooke, an inside linebacker, made the all-district team as a special team's selection. Cooke ranks 14th in Division III with three blocked kicks, one for a safety and another recovered for a touchdown. He has recorded nine special teams tackles and is fifth on team with 38 total tackles. The sophomore also has 2.5 sacks, 5.5 tackles for a loss and an interception.
Pogorelc completed his Bachelor of Science degree in electrical and computer engineering with a 3.64 GPA last spring. He is currently enrolled into the graduate program at Carnegie Mellon's College of Engineering and is pursuing a master's degree in electrical and computer engineering. Pogorelc volunteers as a math tutor at Lincoln elementary school and is a member of Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity. The last four summers, Pogorelc interned for CACI/Bits Systems in Dulles Virginia.
Knight, a civil engineering major, maintains a 3.68 GPA and was a semifinalist for the 2021 William V. Campbell Trophy, which recognizes an individual as the absolute best in the country for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership. Knight, a CoSIDA Academic All-American a season ago, is a member of Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity where he participated in philanthropic events to raise money for nonprofit organizations. He has volunteered as tutor for high school kids at the Environmental Charter School and at the Western Spring Sectional competition of the Special Olympics of Pennsylvania. During the summer of 2020, he was a project manager intern for Structure Tone in New York City and was a civil engineering inter this past summer at Kimley-Horn.
Hegde has a 3.62 GPA and is a business administration major. He is a member of Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity, part of Deloitte's 2021 DLAMP mentorship program and a member of BLAC (Black and Latinx Athletic Coalition) at Carnegie Mellon. Hegde is also a member of the University of Pittsburgh, Three Rivers Battalion Army ROTC and is a graduating Second Lieutenant. In the summer of 2021, he had a Business Development Internship role at World 50 Inc. and worked at Merrill Lynch as a Wealth Management intern.
Yager carries a 3.77 GPA as an information systems major while minoring in human-computer interaction. He is a teaching assistant for a web design and development course at Carnegie Mellon. Yager interned for SingleStone Consulting during the summer of 2021. He's a student technology consultant for computer reach in Pittsburgh and is s student researcher for the Covid Innovation Project at Carnegie Mellon.
Coyne is a business administration major with a concentration in business analytics and minoring in global systems management with a 3.73 GPA. He is a member of Carnegie Mellon Sports Analytics Club, Scottie Ventures and Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity. Coyne interned for Draper Triangle Ventures and Highmark Health as part of the Finance Innovation and Transformation (FIT) team.
Jaeb has a 3.80 GPA and is a business administration major with a concentration in finance. The junior is the president of Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity and a member of Undergraduate Consulting Club at Carnegie Mellon. During the summer of 2021, he was a finance intern for Aptiv PLC. Jaeb has been a part of three case competitions where he took the top place at Deloitte's, second at Accenture's and finished in the top five at Wharton's.
Vasiliadis is also a business administration major with a concentration in finance and strategic management with a 3.61 GPA. The sophomore is a member of Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity where he serves as the social director and Covid-19 safety officer. The last four summers he has served as a Langley basketball camp counselor and recently took on the role of commissioner.
Cooke, a business administration major, graduated with a 3.90 GPA. He is a member of the dean's list and was a PAC honor roll honoree last spring. In the summer of 2021, Cooke interned for a local landscaping company in his hometown of Glen Ellyn, Illinois where he contribute to the billing and pricing of projects.