Aug. 9, 2005

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Southern Illinois and Western Illinois were named co-winners of the 2004 Gateway Football Conference All-Academic Award, the league office announced Tuesday.

The All-Academic Award was established last year to help bring attention to institutional academic excellence. It is based on the average student-athlete grade-point average for the academic year. The calculations include GPAs of all student-athletes in the Gateway who compete, practice or receive athletic aid during the academic year.

"This is a tremendous accomplishment for our football program," Saluki head coach Jerry Kill said. "We're winning football games the right way, with youngsters who go to class, study hard and make academics their top priority."

Saluki linebacker Tony Rinella and the Western Illinois duo of lineman Perry Cox and kicker Justin Langan represented the Gateway Conference on the 2004 CoSIDA ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District V Team.

Southern Illinois and Western Illinois led the way as each had two student-athletes earn the league's highest individual academic achievement. Stanley Bryant and Chris Kupec of Southern Illinois and Western Illinois' Cox and Langan received the President's Academic Excellence Award, given to student-athletes who are within 18 hours of graduation and who have maintained a cumulative grade point average of 3.50 or better.

Overall, Southern Illinois had 20 student-athletes with grade point averages of 3.0 or better; Western Illinois had 24. The two institutions combined to place 12 of 32 total student-athletes who received recognition as part of the Gateway's all-academic team.