The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) announce the 2019 Academic All-America® Division III football teams this morning and Aurora University junior quarterback Gavin Zimbelman added to his impressive list of honors achieved in the 2019 season as a Spartan. Zimbelman was selected as the quarterback on the CoSIDA First-Team All-America team. 

The CoSIDA Academic All-America® honor which is chosen based off the student-athletes combined prowess on the field and in the classroom is the latest achievement in a successful 2019 season for Zimbelman. He becomes the 13th CoSIDA Academic All-America First-Team selection for AU and 32nd overall. 

A business administration and sport management double major with a 3.92 grade point average, Zimbelman led the Spartans to a 9-2 record and to the 2019 NCAA Division III playoffs. The Spartans pushed St. John's to the brink in the first round of the NCAA post season. Champions of the 2019 NACC, the Aurora University football team headed to the NCAA Division III Football Championship for the fifth time in program history and first since 2008. The Spartans  finished the season with a 9-2 overall record and went a perfect 7-0 to win the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Championship.

Individually, he was named the Third-Team All-North Region quarterback by D3football.com after he has earned several other top honors already this season.  A Gagliardi Trophy semifinalist, the 2019 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Offensive Player of the Year and First-Team All-Conference selection following his record setting season, Zimbelman completed 280 of 441 passes for 3,614 yards and an NCAA Division III-best 57 touchdowns. He is the Division III national leader in passing touchdowns (57), points responsible for (368) and points responsible for per game (33.5), while ranking second in total offense (366.2 per game), third in passing yards (3,614), fourth in passing yards per game (328.5) and seventh in completions per game (25.45). 

The Academic All-America teams are selected by CoSIDA member sports information directors based on the student-athletes' academic prowess while being a steady influence on their respective athletic field. To be considered for the honor, the nominated student-athletes are required to maintain a minimum 3.30 cumulative grade-point average throughout their academic career at their respective institution. For more information regarding the Google Cloud Academic All-America® program, visit https://academicallamerica.com/.