three football student-athletes named pre-season all-americans

NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- Three student-athletes from College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) teams were recently named to the D3Football.com Pre-season All-America team.

Offensive lineman Jon Verhelst (Soldotna, Alaska/H.S.) from Augustana was named to the first team, along with Wheaton defensive end Andy Studebaker (Congerville, Ill./Eureka). Studebaker's teammate Pete Ittersagen (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) was named to the second team as a cornerback.

D3football.com is a fan site devoted to the coverage of NCAA Division III football. Each year, the website selects players from around the country for its pre-season all-Americans.

Recently, D3football.com named three teams to its pre-season top 25 list, including Wheaton (13th), North Central (18th) and Augustana (20th). All three teams shared the conference title with identical 6-1 records during conference play in 2006.