AUSTIN, Texas – University of Dayton senior linebacker Christopher Beaschler has been named a CoSIDA First Team Division Academic All-American for the second consecutive year, and teammates David Leisring and Tucker Yinger were named to the second team.  

Dayton and Boise State are the only two Division I institutions with three Academic All-Americans this year.

Beaschler carries a 3.73 GPA in Mechanical Engineering.  He is one of 16 finalists for the 2016 National Football Foundation's William V. Campbell Trophy. The trophy, sometimes referred to as "the Academic Heisman," recognizes an individual as the top football scholar-athlete in the nation.

A team captain from Ada, Ohio, Beaschler is a two-time Pioneer Football League Scholar-Athlete of the Year and has been named both First Team All-PFL and First Team Academic All-PFL in each of the last three years.  On the field, Beaschler has been Dayton's leading tackler for each of the last three seasons, including his team best 88 tackles this season.

Leisring, a sophomore safety from Cincinnati, is a Finance major with a 3.94 GPA.  In his first season as a starter, he was tied for second (with teammate Christian Searles) in the PFL for interceptions.  Leisring also broke up another seven passes.  He was Dayton's fourth-leading tackler in 2016 (73) and third in solo tackles (46).

Yinger, a redshirt sophomore from Columbus, has a 3.83 GPA in Mechanical Engineering.  In his second season seeing action as a Flyer, he had 598 yards rushing with two touchdowns on 85 touches (7.0 yards per carry).  He had the second highest rushing total on the team, and tenth highest in the PFL despite fighting through an injury-riddled season that saw him start and finish just two games. In those two games, Yinger had 193 yards against Morehead State and 172 versus Drake.

The trio brings the total for Dayton football Academic All-Americans to 56 since the first one in 1970.  The Flyers have had 26 since 2000.

This is also the 32nd time a Flyer football player has been named a First Team Academic All-American.  The others are Tim Quinn, Scott Terry, Greg French, David Kemp, Jeff Slayback, Gerry Meyer, Brett Cuthbert, Dan Rosenbaum, Steve Lochow, Brad Mager, David Overholser, Josh Lemmon, Jacob jones, Jimmy Lee, Mark Kasmer, Mary McNamara, Doug Jones, Nick Sellett, Brandon Cramer (twice), Bart Bergfeld, Patrick McCormick, Brandon Wingeier, A.J. Kaltenbach and Steve Wirkus.

Beaschler is the seventh UD player to be named more than once.

Among schools playing Division I football, only Nebraska (106), Penn State (64) and Notre Dame (59) have had more Academic All-Americans than Dayton's 56.  Ohio State (53) and Oklahoma (52) are next.

In order for a student-athlete to be eligible for Academic All-American recognition, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve and maintain a cumulative G.P.A of 3.30 (on a scale of 4.00).

UD went 9-2 in 2016, with a 7-1 record in the Pioneer Football League.  The Flyers finished in second place in the PFL and closed the year with seven consecutive wins.  UD also had 13 All-PFL selections and 13 Academic All-PFL picks.