Terry, Keith, Rinehart Named to Academic All-MAC Football Team

CLEVELAND – For the second straight season, three Kent State student-athletes were named to the 2011 Academic All-Mid-American Conference Football Team Friday.  Senior running back Jacquise Terry (Phenix City, Ala.) earned academic all-conference accolades for the third straight year and was joined on the first team by junior quarterback Spencer Keith (Little Rock, Ark.) and senior punter Matt Rinehart (Dover, Ohio).

Terry, who was just one of five three-time selections on this year’s squad, has a 3.55 GPA as an aeronautics major. The two-time Academic All-American averaged 4.9 yards per carry and had a pair of receiving and rushing touchdowns for the Flashes.  He ended his Kent State career with over 2,300 yards of offense and 18 touchdowns.

Keith carries a 3.82 GPA as a mathematics major and a member of Kent State’s Honors College.  The junior started all 12 games at quarterback for the second straight year. He threw for 1,682 yards and 11 touchdowns and rushed for three scores to continue his ascent to the top of the Kent State record books. He currently ranks third in career passing yards (6,041), passing touchdowns (33) and completions (549).

Rinehart maintains a 3.43 GPA as a nursing major. The senior averaged 42.8 yards per punt – the highest single season average in KSU history – to close his career with a 41.8 average, which is also tops among Kent State punters.  He was a two-time All-MAC First Team selection, and he was named the National Punter Performer of the Week by College Football Performance after averaging 44.8 yards on six punts against Northern Illinois.

The team was voted on by faculty athletic representatives at MAC institutions.  A total of 35 student-athletes were named to the 2011 team.  In order to be eligible for the Academic All-MAC team, a student-athlete must maintain at least a 3.20 grade point average and participate in more than 50 percent of the team’s games that year. First-year students and junior college transfers in their first year at a school are not eligible.

The Flashes won four of their final five games of the season to finish 5-7 overall and 4-4 in the conference.  Kent State will announce its incoming class on Feb. 1, when season tickets go on sale.  The 2012 spring game is scheduled for April 21.