The Slippery Rock University football team led all programs in Super Region One with four selections to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District team that was announced Thursday.
Seniors Henry Litwin, Austin Wayt, Tim Vernick and Cinque Sweeting were all named to first team honors and will all advance to the Academic All-America ballot.
In order to be eligible for the CoSIDA Academic All-America program, student-athletes must be at least sophomores in athletic and academic standing, must own a cumulative grade point average above 3.30 for their undergraduate and graduate studies and must be significant contributors on the field.
Slippery Rock led the 46-team Super Region One that includes all schools in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, the Mountain East Conference, the Northeast 10 Conference and the Great Midwest Athletic Conference with four selections. Hillsdale and Bentley both had three honorees and multiple programs had two selections.
The Academic All-District teams are selected by position, making Liwtin one of just two receivers in the region to earn the honor, Wayt one of just six offensive linemen, Vernick one of just three linebackers and Sweeting the only special teams/all-purpose honoree.
Litwin earns his fourth career Academic All-District honor to become the first player in program history to make that claim. Normally, student-athletes can only be recognized on this team three times because freshmen are not eligible, but because of the COVID year, seniors had an opportunity to be recognized in both 2020 and 2021.
Already a two-time first team Academic All-American, Litwin has expanded his academic trophy case in a big way this fall by becoming the only Division II player to be listed as a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, known in college football as the “Academic Heisman.” The graduate student from Linesville, Pennsylvania earned his undergrad degree in safety management with a 3.66 GPA and entered this semester with a 4.00 GPA in the masters of business administration program.
On the field, Litwin leads all players in the PSAC with 999 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns this fall. He has set the SRU career records for receptions (217) and touchdowns (42) and needs 34 more yards to finish off the trifecta and set the SRU record for receiving yards. He enters this week’s game with 3,349 career yards in the last three seasons, more than any other player in Division II over that stretch.
Wayt, a senior from Canton, Ohio, earns his third career Academic All-District honor after also being named an Academic All-American in 2020. He earned his undergrad degree in safety management already with a 3.50 GPA and entered this fall with a perfect 4.0 GPA in the masters of business administration program.
On the field, Wayt has started 39 straight games at center on The Rock’s offensive line, helping to block for one of the top offensive units in the nation over the last three seasons. This fall, SRU ranks third in Division II in passing offense, ninth in total offensive yards and 11th in scoring offense.
Vernick, a three-year captain from Butler, Pennsylvania, earns his first Academic All-District nod in his final season. He graduated from SRU with a 3.53 GPA in computer science and cybersecurity and entered this fall with a perfect 4.0 GPA in the masters of business administration program.
On the field, Vernick has started 45 games over the last four seasons as The Rock’s middle linebacker. This fall, he has a career-high 74 total tackles with six tackles for loss and three forced fumbles. Over the last four seasons, Vernick has racked up a team-high 257 total tackles, including 29.0 tackles for loss.
Sweeting, a senior from Miami, Florida, earns his first career Academic All-District honor as the lone special teams selection from the region. In the classroom, Sweeting earned his undergraduate degree in sport management with a 3.52 GPA and is currently working on a second degree in business administration.
A do-it-all player for The Rock, Sweeting has racked up 51 catches for 613 yards and seven touchdowns while also rushing for 169 yards and two scores and accumulating 335 combined kick return yards for an average of 101.5 all-purpose yards per game this fall. Counting his two years at Seton Hill, Sweeting has 1,808 receiving yards, 1,221 rushing yards and 1,134 kick return yards. He is the only active four-year player from any NCAA institution at any level with at least 1,000 yards in each of those categories and has 4,274 career all-purpose yards.
The CoSIDA Academic All-America team will be announced Dec. 17.
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