College Sports Communicators Academic All-District® Football Release
The College of Wooster's Lake Barrett, Paul Thomas Fischer, Andrew Hammer, Bryce Kamphues, Liam Regan, and Brock Sivon were named College Sports Communicators Academic All-District®, as announced by the organization on Tuesday afternoon.
Barrett, hoping to become Wooster's third three-time CSC Academic All-American®, earned the North Coast Athletic Conference Special Teams Player of the Year honor this fall and was one of 10 finalists for the Fred Mitchell Award out of a pool of 700 eligible colleges. The four-time all-conference performer graduates first all-time in program history with 29 field goals and is second all-time with a 76 percent success rate. Barrett is Wooster's all-time leader with a 99.4 success rate on extra points and was a remarkable 155-for-156 over his career. He made the second-most extra points in program history and is the College's lone placekicker to go three consecutive seasons with at least 35 makes and no misses.
The biology and education major worked with Alliance for a Sustainable Amazon in Peru this past summer. There, Barrett assisted with reforestation projects, helped with educational outreach initiatives in local communities, and contributed materials Alliance for a Sustainable Amazon is using as it lobbies the national government for reforestation support. The senior discovered the mutation in black squirrels in Colorado is different than those found in Ohio during his Independent Study (I.S.) project. He studied abroad in Panama and was a researcher in tropical ecology. On campus, Barrett has a plethora of research experiences, headlined by working with a colony of strawberry dart frogs and with the College's natural history specimen collection.
Fischer, a senior statistical and data sciences major, transitioned back to the defensive side of the ball this fall and played in all 10 games. He finished the year with 34 tackles and tied for the NCAC lead with two fumble recoveries and ranked fourth with three interceptions. Fischer capped a solid Wooster career with nine tackles at Wittenberg University and had interceptions in three straight games, starting with an October 21 contest at Denison University. In that game, Fischer had seven tackles, a fumble recovery, and blocked a field goal.
Fischer is developing and implementing a convolutional neural network with the specific goal of identifying the makes and models of different vehicles for the I.S. project. Fischer is utilizing a diverse self-curated dataset of car images and aims to harness the power of deep learning and computer vision to accurately classify and categorize vehicles. As an AMRE (Wooster's Applied Methods and Research Experience) consultant for Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, Fischer created a data visualization dashboard to showcase key performance indicators crucial to the success of the testing facility. On campus, Fischer is a STEM Zone intern and tutors students in data visualization. He has been a athletic training room assistant since 2020 and is a member of Men Working for Change student organization.
Hammer started all 10 games at wide receiver and led the team with seven receiving touchdowns. He finished second on the team with 39 receptions and 477 yards. Hammer logged nine receptions, 101 yards, and a touchdown against The University of Olivet and caught two touchdowns while going for 96 yards in a win versus Hiram College.
The two-time CSC Academic All-District® honoree is a classical studies and economics major. Hammer is actively involved in Greek life on campus, serving as a representative on the Inter-Greek Council and the new member educator for Phi Sigma Alpha. He is a member of Eta Sigma Phi, the classics honor society chapter on campus, was a teaching assistant, and spent last summer working for Vector Marketing and Cutco. Hammer's Junior Independent Study looks at Julius Caesar's conquest of Gaul.
Kamphues, a second-team All-NCAC performer this fall, was a four-year starter on the offensive line. He was a key blocker in Wooster hanging 70 points on Kenyon College, which marked the fourth-most in program history since touchdowns started being awarded six points. Kamphues helped Wooster to the most yards in a game since 2005 and the most rushing yards in a game since 2014 in the Kenyon win. On the year, Wooster's 138.9 rushing yards per game marked the top total since 2013.
The two-time CSC Academic All-District® and education and history major's I.S. looks at Timbuktu in modern day Mali and the historic manuscripts the city has become know for. Kamphues is looking at the history of the city and manuscripts and the efforts to preserve them and turning the research into an educational unit plan. He has spent the past two summers interning at Dexter Axle.
Regan played in all 10 games as a reserve linebacker and earned a starting assignment for two games. On the year, the junior was credited with 15 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, a sack, and a fumble recovery. Regan returned a fumble 37 yards for a touchdown in the season lid-lifter at Wilmington College and had five tackles in that game.
The education and mathematics major has field experience at Cornerstone Elementary School, The College of Wooster Nursery School, Wooster High School, and Canandaigua Middle School and was involved in various community service initiatives in New York. The member of Wooster's track & field team was part of the program's scoring 4x100 relay (46.87) at the 2023 outdoor NCAC Championships and helped the 4x200 relay (1:32.18) score at the All-Ohio Indoor Championships.
Sivon, Wooster's leading tackler at 69, started all 10 games in the defensive backfield. The sophomore had 3.5 tackles for loss and two interceptions and opened the year with picks in back-to-back games. Sivon's career-high of 16 tackles came against NCAC champion DePauw University and he had at least seven tackles in four other games.
The environmental studies major took part in the College's TREK Program to Costa Rica last summer. There, Sivon engaged in exploring real-world problems and solutions related to human-wildlife conflict in the area. He met with local experts and stakeholders to understand conflicts from multiple perspectives, explored threats to wildlife and ecosystems in the region, and participated in efforts to conserve and restore wildlife populations and ecosystems in Costa Rica.
Each school with a CSC membership may submit up to eight Academic All-District® honorees for football. Each nominee must have at least a 3.50 cumulative GPA, be at least a sophomore in academic standing, and either play in 90 percent of games or start in 66 percent of games. As placekicker, punter, and special teams positions are not NCAA-designated starting positions, nominees in those three categories must hit the 90 percent of games played threshold. The CSC Academic All-America® Team for football will be announced on January 23.