Three Valparaiso football student-athletes have been named to the Academic All-Pioneer Football League teams for their contributions on the field in 2012, as well as in the classroom. The teams were selected by the league’s sports information directors.

Offensive linemen Stuart Barkley (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley Northwest) and Matt Schroll (Michigan City, Ind./Michigan City) earned Second Team Academic All-PFL honors along with junior defensive back Alex Grask (Naperville, Ill./Central). The three All-Academic selections are the most by a Crusaders team since 2010.

Schroll and Barkley appeared in 10 games apiece on an offensive line that helped spring a rushing attack of more than 1,200 yards on the season.  Schroll, a senior marketing and sports management major, boasts a 3.52 GPA while Barkely, a mechanical engineering major, has achieved a 3.54 grade point average.  

Grask, the team MVP, finished fourth in the Pioneer Football League with 113 tackles, averaging just more than 10 per contest.  The junior was the team’s leading tackler on nine occasions.  In the classroom, Grask posted a 3.39 GPA majoring in international business.

Pioneer Football League athletic directors established the Academic All-PFL squads in 1993 as a way to recognize the league’s outstanding student-athletes. To be eligible for Academic All-PFL consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade-point average of 3.00 on a scale of 4.00 and reached sophomore standing both athletically and academically at his current institution.