CALIFORNIA (Jan. 7) – The California (PA) football team placed five players on the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District Team on Tuesday afternoon.
Senior tight end
Jack Colecchi, redshirt junior defensive back
Rafiqe Hilliard, sophomore linebacker
Grant Hopple, senior tight end
Junior McConahy and sophomore offensive lineman
Solomon Ortiz earned accolades from the organization. Colecchi received the laurel for the third-consecutive season, while Hilliard garnered the honor for the second time in his career.
Colecchi set a career high with 20 receptions and finished with 159 yards while appearing in all 13 games with 11 starts. He completed his master's degree in business administration with a concentration in management last month with a 3.56 grade-point average (GPA). Colecchi earned his bachelor's degree in business administration with a concentration in management information systems and a minor in marketing from PennWest in 2023.
Hilliard finished with a career-high 25 tackles (16 solo), along with one interception and one fumble recovery, while appearing in all 13 games with four starts. He boasts a 3.78 GPA while finishing a degree in art studio with a minor in digital media technology.
Hopple established a career high with 43 stops (23 solo) while making 11 starts. He also tallied 3.0 TFL, one interception return for a touchdown and one fumble recovery in his first year as a starter. Hopple holds a 3.55 GPA while majoring in biology with a concentration in pre-medicine and a minor in chemistry.
McConahy appeared in all 13 games with a pair of starts and finished with 50 receiving yards on four catches. He boasts a 4.00 GPA while pursuing a master's degree in exercise science and health promotion with a concentration in rehabilitation services. McConahy completed his bachelor's degree in health sciences from PennWest last May.
Ortiz appeared in 12 games as a reserve and on special teams. He maintains a 3.52 GPA while majoring in management.
To qualify for CSC Academic All-District honors, student-athletes must be at least a sophomore academically and athletically, maintain a cumulative 3.50 GPA and have played in 90 percent of the team's games or start 66 percent of the team's games. Additionally, each institution is capped at eight nominees in the sport of football.
Colecchi was chosen as a CSC Academic All-America finalist and advances to the national ballot with the CSC Academic All-America Teams being announced in three weeks.
