BOLINGBROOK, Ill. – South Dakota State wide receiver Jake Wieneke is one of 22 college football players named to the 2017 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team. The award, which was announced Thursday, shines a spotlight on the selflessness and community service displayed by these student-athletes and honors their dedication to volunteerism and enriching the lives of others.
A senior from Maple Grove, Minn., Wieneke has continually worked with several community service initiatives since arriving at SDSU in the fall of 2013. He is in his fifth year as serving as a mentor to a student through the Brookings County Youth Mentoring Program and has worked with ESL students at a local elementary school. He also has served as a youth group leader at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Brookings and has been active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes by serving as a flag football coach and sports/youth camp counselor.
In addition, Wieneke has taken his devotion to service both regionally and abroad. He has participated in two mission trips to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and also has been a part of a mission trip to Kenya in which he taught in schools, as well as four mission trips to Jamaica – three times to build houses and one to serve people with disabilities who have been abandoned.
The 2017 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team will be invited to New Orleans to participate in a special community service project ahead of the 2018 Allstate Sugar Bowl, where the entire team will also be recognized on the field at halftime. Fans are encouraged to visit ESPN.com/Allstate to vote for the 2017 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team Captain now through Nov. 23. The Team Captain will be honored at this season's The Home Depot College Football Awards on ESPN. Throughout the season, fans can also follow along and join in on the conversation by searching and using #GoodWorksTeam on their social media channels.
The 22-member squad, along with an honorary coach, was pared from a list of 146 nominees across all four-year divisions of college football. The team is divided into 11 members from FBS schools, with the other half from the FCS, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA programs. Wieneke was the lone FCS student-athlete honored on this year's team.
Wieneke is the third Jackrabbit football player to be selected to the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team in the last five years, joining Winston Wright (2013) and Zach Zenner (2014).
The following players and honorary head coach have been named to the 2017 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team:
FBS
Daniel Carlson, Auburn
Gabe Brandner, Duke
Mavin Saunders, Florida State
Brent Stockstill, Middle Tennessee State
A.J. Cole, III, North Carolina State
Brandon Smith, Penn State
Harrison Phillips, Stanford
Shaq Jones, UAB
Aaron Davis, Georgia
Courtney Love, Kentucky
Tommy Openshaw, Vanderbilt
COMBINED DIVISIONS (FCS, II, III & NAIA)
Reece Foy, Amherst
Josh Dalki, Bethel
Ryan Stratton, Edinboro
Jake Daugherty, Ferris State
Tyler Schubert, Franklin & Marshall
Jacob Jenness, Northwestern (Iowa)
Gunnar Orcutt, Peru State
Will Gillach, Saint John's (Minn.)
Jake Wieneke, South Dakota State
Patrick Mohorcic, The College of Wooster
Dillon Vaughan, West Texas A&M
HONORARY HEAD COACH
Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern
