ST. LOUIS – Five South Dakota State football players, including repeat first-team selections Adam Bock and Reece Winkelman, were honored Tuesday as members of the 2022 all-Missouri Valley Football Conference Scholar-Athlete Team.
A junior linebacker from Solon, Iowa, Bock carries a 3.82 grade-point average as a mechanical engineering major and has led the team in tackles twice during his collegiate career.
Winkelman, a defensive end from Marshall, Minnesota, holds a 3.92 GPA as a graduate student in business economics. He was honored on the squad for the fourth time after previously receiving second-team (2019) and honorable mention (2020-21 spring season) recognition.
Also earning a spot on the 12-player first team from SDSU was sophomore quarterback Mark Gronowski with a 3.71 GPA while majoring in mechanical engineering. A native of Naperville, Illinois, Gronowski has helped lead the Jackrabbits to a combined 19-3 record and a pair of No. 1 seeds in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs in his two seasons as a starter.
Second-team honors went to a pair of Jackrabbit wide receivers — Canyon Bauer and Jaxon Janke. A junior from Sioux Falls, Bauer has compiled a 3.92 GPA as an exercise science/pre-physical therapy major, while Janke has posted a 3.55 GPA in physical education/teacher education. A senior from Madison, Janke moved up to the second team after receiving honorable mention accolades each of the past two seasons.
The MVFC Scholar-Athlete Team is determined by a vote among the league’s sports information directors in which they designate 11 first-team and 11 second-team selections. A total of 39 student-athletes were honored league-wide, with Illinois State linebacker Zeke Vandenburgh selected as the MVFC Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Nominees must carry a cumulative GPA of at least 3.5, be starters or key reserves, be at least a sophomore both athletically and academically, and must have completed at least one calendar year at their institution.
