Fisher and Mendis selected to CoSIDA's Academic All-District Football First Team

Posted: Jul 02, 2021

Release and photo courtesy of Gallaudet Athletics Communication. Read the original article here.

WASHINGTON - The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) announced it's 2020-21 Academic All-District® Football Teams and Gallaudet University landed two players on the District 2 team for Division III. Gallaudet's honorees include senior offensive lineman Cress Fisher (Boyerstown, Pa.) and junior fullback Joseph Mendis (Brook Park, Ohio). The duo will now be added to the national ballot for the chance to earn Academic All-America honors, which will be announced on Wednesday, July 14.

Gallaudet has had 11 CoSIDA Academic All-District® honorees since 2012. Former GU standout Adham Talaat is the only Bison that has earned Academic All-America honors (2012, '13) in football.

Gallaudet was the only program from the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) to have any honorees.

Fisher, an art and media design major, has a GPA of 3.74 and is a three-time ECFC All-Academic honoree and is making his second straight appearance on the CoSIDA Academic All-District team. Fisher joins Talaat as Gallaudet's only multiple All-District honoree. Mendis, an information technology major, has a GPA of 3.89 and is a two-time ECFC All-Academic honoree. Gallaudet's 2020-21 athletic season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Student-athletes were nominated using career statistics for this year's CoSIDA Academic All-America® program.

To be eligible for CoSIDA Academic honors, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. District Two is comprised of Connecticut, Washington, D.C., Delaware, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont and West Virginia.

GALLAUDET'S CoSIDA ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT® FOOTBALL HONOREES

Also see:

2020-21 CoSIDA Football All-District Teams (PDF)

About CoSIDA's Academic All-America® Program
CoSIDA began this program in the 1950's, and since then, has honored thousands of deserving student-athletes from numerous sports and across all divisions with these elite CoSIDA Academic All-America® scholar-athlete honors. Currently, CoSIDA honors Academic All-Americans in 12 sports.

The CoSIDA Academic All-District® teams include the student-athletes listed per sport and are divided into eight geographic districts across the United States and Canada. The CoSIDA Academic All-America® program separately recognizes honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.

The Division II and III CoSIDA Academic All-America® programs are partially financially supported by the NCAA Division II and III national governance structures to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2020-21 Divisions II and III Academic All-America® programs. The NAIA CoSIDA Academic All-America® program is partially financially supported through the NAIA national office.

For more information about CoSIDA's Academic All-District® and Academic All-America® Teams program, visit AcademicAllAmerica.com or the Academic All-America® home page on CoSIDA.com.