NORTHFIELD, Minn. – A team record-matching five members of the Carleton College football team were voted to the 2021 CoSIDA Academic All-District Team. This quintet includes senior defensive lineman
John Witte (Wessington Springs, S.D./Wessington Springs), defensive backs
Travis Brown (St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville) and
Ryan McGregor (Ellsworth, Wis/Ellsworth), as well as junior linebacker
Isaac Simons (Oconomowoc, Wis./Lake Country Lutheran) and sophomore defensive lineman
Michael Carey (Haddonfield, N.J./Haddonfield Memorial).
The Academic All-District® Team recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom. District 6 encompasses NCAA Division III schools from Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
The was Brown's fourth career Academic All-District nod. He was previously voted to the football version for the 2019 season and 2020-21 academic year. He added a baseball Academic All-District honor after the 2021 campaign. Witte is a three-time selection for football, while McGregor secured his second consecutive honor. Simons and Carey earned Academic All-District recognition for the first time.
To be eligible for the Academic All-District and Academic All-America program, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at their current institution, and be nominated by their sports information director.
Only 25 players from District 6 were selected this time around, with Carleton's five-player total tied for most in the three-state area with perennial national power Saint John's University.
All five Carleton student-athletes that took home the honor this year are part of a Knights defense that ranked third in the MIAC for points allowed, third in the MIAC and 45th in the nation in rushing defense, and paced the MIAC and tied for 17th in the nation in turnovers forced with 25.
Brown is a Statistics major with a 3.59 GPA who has been one of the leaders for the Knights this season on both defense and special teams. In the return game, he averaged 22.0 yards per kick return—including a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown at Macalester—and 11.6 yards per punt return, with both averages pacing all MIAC players. Brown also averaged 38.1 yards per punt, but due to Carleton's two-punter system, he fellow two punts shy of qualifying for the conference and national leaderboards, where his average would have ranked third and 41st respectively.
A safety, Brown ranked third in the MIAC with 81 total tackles and fifth with three interceptions. He had a fumble return for a touchdown, and was named the MIAC Athlete of the week three times this season, twice on the defensive side of the ball, and once for the special teams player of the week, as well as being named to the D3football.com Team of the Week once.
Carey is a Chemistry major with a 3.89 GPA. He tied for second in the MIAC with seven sacks on the season, with six of those coming in MIAC games. He had 3.5 sacks in a game earlier this season at St. Scholastica—the third-highest single-game total in recorded team history—and finished with seven tackles, a forced fumble, fumble recovery, and pass breakup in the Knights' 30-14 win. He finished with 48 tackles to rank fifth on the squad, including 10.0 tackles for loss.
McGregor is an Economics major with a 3.66 GPA. He tied for first in the MIAC with 10 pass breakups, to go along with a team-best four interceptions, which ranked him third in the conference. McGregor was a menace to conference opponents, as he totaled a league-high 41 solo stops in the eight MIAC games and totaled at least seven tackles on six occasions, including double-digit figures in three games. He was the MIAC Defensive Player of the Week and was tabbed to the D3football.com Team of the Week following the Knights' first of two victories over Macalester.
Simons is an Economics major with a 3.72 GPA. He led the Knights with 82 tackles on the season, a mark that was good for second among all MIAC players. He finished with 10.5 tackles for loss, which was fourth-best in the conference, and he added 4.5 sacks to take sixth place in the MIAC. Simons registered double-digit tackle totals in a trio of contests, and his 71 tackles in conference games was tied for tops among all players, an average of 8.9 stops per game. Simons took home MIAC Defensive Player of the Week recognition once.
Witte is a Computer Science major with a 3.61 GPA. He had 39 tackles in eight games and finished with 7.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, seven quarterback hurries, a forced fumble, and fumble recovery.
Carleton finished the season with a 7-3 record, the program's best showing since 2008.
This is the second straight time that the Knights have had five Academic All-District selections. Brown, Carey, McGregor, Simons, and Witte now advance to the Academic All-America ballot, where first, second, and third-team honorees will be announced in mid-December. Brown was a second-team Academic All-America pick for the 2020-21 academic year.
