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5 Soccer Players Named to USCAA National All-Academic Squad
In keeping with the tradition of producing quality athletes on the field and outstanding students in the classroom, five Williamson soccer players were named to the 2024 U. S. Collegiate Athletic Association’ s national Soccer All- Academic squad.
The honor goes to players who were starters or significant contributors to the success on the field, while maintaining a 3.50 GPA.( Freshman are not eligible for the award.)
Leading the way for the Mechanics was Jonathan Illing, who scored eight goals and added two assists. He is a twotime national All-Academic selection.
Another two-time All-Academic is senior fullback Dan Maroney. A key component on the back line, he was a three-year starter and a key component to the defense when he was healthy.
Fellow senior Harrison Pritt came on big midway through the season, contributing three goals and one assist. He was an All-Academic team member in 2023.
Senior Richard Lusch was a spark for the offense, scoring one goal and adding three assists on the year. He becomes a two-time All-Academic team member as well.
Junior Rob Wagner, a stalwart on defense, made his presence know through each and every game.
Williamson closed the season at 6-9- 2. After an outstanding start, injuries riddled the team and ended what was on track to being a winning season.
Illing Named to USCAA All-American Team
Senior Jonathan Illing was named to the 2024 U. S. Collegiate Athletic Association All-American soccer squad.
Illing, a forward, had eight goals on the year, two of which were game winners, and an astounding four came from 20 yards or longer. He was fourth in the nation in shots with 71; an amazing 36 of those shots being shots on goal( 50.7 %), and he added two assists.
“ Jon was a real key to our offense. He was such a strong player that he was able to create shooting opportunities for himself,” shared head coach Peter Glowa.“ He had an incredibly strong leg to the point it was almost like he could score from anywhere once the ball crossed midfield. We are very happy for him.”
The All-American status for Illing keeps Williamson’ s streak of having at least one All-American in each of the six years Glowa has been the team’ s head coach. In all, he has coached eight All-Americans at Williamson.
As a side note, by being named an All-American, Illing joins his twin brother Joshua, who was named a US- CAA Baseball All-American from Williamson last spring. They become the first brother tandem to both earn All- American honors.
Hernandez Gets All-American Status; Cross Country Gets High Finish at Nationals
The 2024 cross country team had a record-breaking season, coming away from the USCAA national championships with just the second cross country All-American in school history, and finishing in sixth place, the highest finish ever at nationals by a Williamson squad.
The U. S. Athletic Association Men’ s Cross Country National Championship proved to be an outstanding one for Williamson. Freshman standout runner Bryan Hernandez finished eighth in the nation, a finish that gained him All-American status, just the second runner in Williamson history to achieve this status. In addition, Williamson as a team finished 6th in the nation, the school ' s highest finish ever at nationals.
Hernandez had a great season coming into the race, winning the 2024 NJCAA Region 19 Men’ s championship two weeks ago. Earlier in the season he finished second at the Eastern States Athletic Conference Men’ s championship race. He also was the top junior college runner at the season-opening Philly Metro race at the Belmont Plateau.
At the national championship race, on a course that proved to be hilly, Hernandez was going up against the best of the best in the nation. If he was intimidated, he didn’ t show it, as he finished the race in 29:12, good for eighth place and just a mere eight seconds behind the sixth-place runner.
By finishing in the Top 10, Hernandez gained second-team All-American status, becoming just the second runner in Williamson history to achieve this.
“ Bryan has all kinds of talent,” shared head coach Steve Hixson.“ No one out works him. It took him a bit to adjust from running a 5K high school race to an 8K collegiate race, but I knew once he did, there was no stopping him. The hills were a bit of his undoing, but now that he knows what he is up against, next year he is not coming back to finish in the Top 10- he is coming back to win the whole thing!”
Simmons & Conroy Highlight Seaboard All-Conference Football Selections
Freshman Nasir Simmons was named the 2024 Seaboard Conference All-Purpose Most Valuable Player and senior Cooper Conroy was named the Co-Defensive Most Valuable Player. Williamson also had six other players receiving a first-team All-Conference selection.
Simmons was named a first-team wide receiver and an all-purpose player. He led the team in receiving with 31 catches for 336 yards( 10.8) and added five touchdowns to lead the team. He carried the ball 16 times for 43 yards, returned six punts for 109 yards( 18.2), and returned 13 kick-offs for 266 yards( 20.5). He also added an interception on defense, returning it 61 yards.
Conroy will go down as one of the finest shutdown cornerbacks in school history. He led the team in interceptions all three years, once again adding seven interceptions in 2024, after picking off seven passes in 2023. He finished his career with 17 picks, one shy of the record. He added 15 tackles this year, with an astounding 14 passes defended and forced a fumble.
Other first team selections on offense are freshman combo wide receiver / tight end Nathan Barnshaw and senior offensive lineman Kyle McGallicher and junior offensive guard Kaseem Cotton. On defense, Williamson added firstteam selections in defensive tackle Gabe Walsh, safety Kevin Mayoros, and linebacker David Pownall Jr.
Barnshaw caught fire from mid-season on and was a key part of the team ' s offense. He was second on the team in
The football program’ s proud tradition of exemplifying excellence on the field and in the classroom, continues as the U. S. Collegiate Athletic Association recognized five Williamson football players as part of their 2024 national All-Academic team.
The honor recognizes players who were starters or significant contributors to the team’ s success on the field, while maintaining a 3.50 GPA.( Freshman are not eligible for the award.)
Leading the way were seniors Kevin Mayoros and Gabe Walsh and juniors Tyler Brauer, Dylan Brophy, and Adam Simmins.
Mayoros was a three-year starter and is now a two-time All-Academic team member. He led in tackles and was named All-Seaboard Conference firstteam for the second year in a row.
Walsh is a two-time All-Academic team member and a three-year starter. He, too, is a two-time first team All- receptions with 18 for 312 yards. He led the team in average yards per catch at 17.3 and added a touchdown.
McGallicher did an incredible job at both guard and center this season, and both he and Cotton helped pave the way for an offense that averaged over 100 yards rushing and 100 yards passing per game.
Walsh is a two-time first team selection. In 2024, despite being injured and missing multiple games, he managed 16 tackles, including four for loss, good enough for third in that category for the team. He also was second on the team in sacks with four, second in hurries with seven, and added two safeties.
Mayoros is a three-time all-conference selection, including first team the past two years. He led the team in tackles this year with 38, including one for loss. He also added two pass break-ups and one forced fumble.
Pownall was a huge surprise for the Mechanics in 2024. After playing on the offensive line the previous two seasons, he asked to move to linebacker and the results were eye-catching. He ended up tied for second on the team in tackles with 33, and was tied for third in tackles for loss with 4.0. He also added 1.5 sacks and managed to add one pass break-up.
Williamson was well represented on the second team as well. On offense, Shawn Bedwell made it as an all-purpose player, Adam Simmins at center, and Carson Steinruck at punter. On defense, we had linebacker Logan Peck and defensive end Dominick Gallo.
5 Football Players Named to USCAA National All-Academic Squad
Conference selection. He was second on the team in sacks and second in tackles for loss.
Brauer, after not playing his freshman year, gained a starting spot at defensive tackle right out of the gate and never looked back. He had 21 tackles and 1.5 sacks this past season.
Brophy got strong as the year progressed. Also a defensive tackle, he accounted for 14 tackles, including one for loss, and added a fumble recovery.
Simmins had a dominating year on the offensive line before being sidelined due to an injury. Known for his toughness, he helped lead an offense that averaged over 100 yards rushing and 100 yards passing a game this past year.
“ These guys are well-deserving of this award and we as a staff could not be prouder of who they are on the field and in the classroom. They are outstanding representatives of Williamson,” shared head coach Dan Drake.