AUSTIN, Texas (pacathletics.org) - The 2024 Academic All-America® football teams selected by College Sports Communicators (CSC) were announced Tuesday and five players from Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) programs were named to the teams, including four earning First Team recognition.
Receiving First Team distinction were seniors Zach Cernuto (Scottdale, Pa./Southmoreland) and Dawson Dietz (Allison Park, Pa./Hampton) from Washington & Jefferson College, as well as graduate student Robert Coury (Phillipsburg, N.J./Phillipsburg) and junior Justin Caputo (Bridgeville, Pa./South Fayette) from Carnegie Mellon University. Completing the PAC contingent with Academic All-America® laurels was Carnegie Mellon graduate student Thomas Coury (Phillipsburg, N.J./Phillipsburg).
The four PAC student-athletes on First Team were the second most by a Division III conference behind only the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC), who had five. The PAC also tied the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) for second-highest total on both teams with five, trailing only the MIAC with seven.
A psychology major in the classroom, Zach Cernuto is a two-time CSC Academic All-District recipient and first-time member of the Academic All-America® team who started all 11 games for W&J this season as their leading tight end. Cernuto worked his way to his second All-PAC First Team honor this season as well. The versatile tight end hit career highs in receiving yards (286), receiving touchdowns (six) and receptions (36).
Cernuto earned PAC Offensive Player of the week and a spot on the D3football.com Team of the Week after his performance against Case Western Reserve (Nov. 2). Cernuto logged two career highs with 14 receptions and 123 receiving yards. His reception total of 14 marks the most catches by a W&J receiver since Payton Skalos (16 receptions vs. Westminster Oct. 26, 2019).
Dawson Dietz, a business administration major, collects his second CSC Academic All-America® honor after placing on second team a season ago.
Dietz kept the senior year accolades coming with his third career CSC Academic All-District honor. To this point, the Presidents' defensive anchor has picked up First Team All-America honors from the Associated Press, American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), and D3football.com. Dietz was also named a finalist for the 2024 Cliff Harris Award, the first W&J finalist since Mike Williams from the 2019 season, and was named All-Region 2 Defensive Player of the Year.
As the 2024 PAC Defensive Player of the Year, Dietz finished the season as one of the nation's top defensive disruptors, leading the conference in tackles for loss (22.5) and sacks (13, career-high). Dietz ranked second in all of NCAA Division III in tackles for loss and fourth in sacks. Dietz holds the fourth most tackles for loss at W&J with 57 in his career to this point, passing both Stephen Swentkowsky '90 (56.5) and Dan Primrose '96 (53) in their last regular season matchup against Allegheny (Nov. 21).
With Cernuto and Dietz earning this honor, W&J now has 79 student-athletes who have earned Academic All-America® distinction, including 20 in football.
Robert Coury carries a 3.97 GPA as a mechanical engineering major. He was a William V. Campbell Trophy Finalist and a finalist for the 2024 Gagliardi Trophy as well as named to four different All-American teams - AFCA, Associated Press, D3football.com and Walter Camp Football Foundation. The first-team All-PAC selection led the defense for the fifth straight season in tackles (77) and fourth straight season in tackles for loss (18.5), while also leading the squad with 6.0 sacks. Coury forced five fumbles, recovered two fumbles and had one blocked punt this season. His five forced fumbles ranked fourth nationally. He finished his career with 366 tackles and 65.0 tackles for loss, ranking tops all-time in program history in both categories.
Off the field, Coury has volunteered at the Western Spring Sectional competition of the Special Olympics of Pennsylvania, Get in the Game - Be The Match and Rise Against Hunger. Coury has worked on numerous projects, including the Smart Walk Design Prototype where he designed a walker attachment using sensor to vibration motor communication to benefit disabled individuals. The inside linebacker has been a manufacturing engineer intern for Mack Trucks, a subsidiary of Volvo Group, as well as a construction project management intern for Tesla and Curtiss-Wright as a mechanical engineering intern. He is a member of Undergraduate Consulting Club, Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity, the Sports Analytics Club and Cru at Carnegie Mellon.
Justin Caputo, a chemical engineering major, maintains a perfect 4.00 GPA. The junior was a first-team All-PAC selection after he led the conference in scoring for kickers for the second straight year with 83 points, while also leading the PAC with 10 field goals and 53 converted point-after-attempts. He recorded a career-long 43-yard field goal against Grove City. He currently ranks second in program history with 93 career PATs.
He was a STEM Intern at Covestro in summer of 2024 where he performed chemical resistance testing of new products according to automotive OEM specifications. He is a member of Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity and has participated in philanthropy events to raise money for cancer research.
Thomas Coury, a mechanical engineering graduate student, had an undergraduate GPA of 3.95 and has a 4.0 GPA in graduate school. He was named to the 2024 D3football.com All-Region 2 Team and First Team All-PAC. Coury ranked second on the team in tackles with 71 and ended the season with 11.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, forced a fumble and blocked a punt. He also returned his own block punt for a touchdown against Saint Vincent. He finished his career with 299 tackles, which rank fourth all-time in program history.
Coury was a summer associate for EY-Parthenon and has also been an engineering/project management intern for Curtiss-Wright. He is a member of Undergraduate Consulting Club, Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity, the Sports Analytics Club and Cru at Carnegie Mellon. Coury has volunteered at the Western Spring Sectional competition of the Special Olympics of Pennsylvania.
Story contributions from W&J and Carnegie Mellon Sports Information