Luther's McGivney an AFCA all-American

This from Luther College Sports Information: 

McGivney Named AFCA All-American

Dec. 13, 2010

Decorah, Iowa – The American Football Coaches Association announced today that Luther linebacker Kyle McGivney has been named to the 2010 AFCA Division III Coaches' All-America Team.

The AFCA has selected an All-America team since 1945 and currently selects teams in all five of its division. What

 makes these teams so special is that they are the only ones chosen exclusively by the men who know the players the best – the coaches themselves.

All five AFCA divisions have an All-America Selection Committee consisting of a committee chairman, a district representative head coach from each of the AFCA districts in each division and two committeemen in each district who are also head coaches.

The selection committees in each division conduct a conference call to select the team.

Prior to the call, the district chairmen and his committeemen are responsible for gathering information on worthy players in their districts. Then in late October, the coaches vote on a 25-player team. The voting results are a part of the information that is considered when the selection committee names the team.

During the 2010 campaign, McGivney led the nation in total tackles setting the NCAA III single season record with 198 for an average of 19.8 per game. He broke the old mark of 178 set by Robert Gunn of Earlham in 2000. Of his 198 tackles, 87 were solo that ranked second in the nation.

He was also credited with four pass break-ups, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries, including one for a touchdown during Luther's 30-24 victory over Simpson College.

McGivney also became Luther's all-time leader in total tackles with 403, breaking the old mark of 290 set by John Jaeger who played for the Norse from 2001-04.

With today's announcement, this is the third post season award presented to McGivney. Earlier he was named to the Iowa Conference all-conference first team defensive unit for a second time, and last week was named to the D3football.com  All-West Region Team as a first team selection.

“This is a great and well-deserved honor for Kyle,” stated Head Coach Mike Durnin. “Kyle has displayed an outstanding passion and ability to play the game of football. He  has worked hard to become not only one of the best linebackers in the country, but also a great student of the game.  Kyle's achievements are also an excellent testimony of the support and dedication by his teammates and the defensive coaching staff.”

With this honor, McGivney becomes the second Luther football player to be named to the AFCA Division III All-America team in the past three years - runningback Tyler Sherden in 2007 - and the 14

^th

in school history.

The complete Division III All-American team can be found on the AFCA website at http://www.afca.com.

McGivney, a 2007 graduate of Warren High School, is the son of Joe and Sue McGivney of Lena, Ill.

Located in Decorah, Iowa, Luther College is a four-year liberal arts college affiliated with the Lutheran church (ELCA). The Norse compete in 10 men's and nine women's intercollegiate sports.

As a member of the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) since 1922, the men have won 152 conference championships. In 1982 the IIAC expanded its championship sponsorship to include women's sports. During this time span, the women have won 62 team titles. Combined, Luther is the first school in the Iowa Conference to capture 214 league titles.

 More information on Luther College athletics can be found on the athletic web site at

http://sports.luther.edu.