May 28, 2008

DeKALB, Ill. - Northern Illinois golfer Zach Jecklin (Bloomington, Ill./Bloomington) earned his third consecutive Academic All-Mid-American Conference award as the league announced its 2008 team Wednesday. The senior's selection to the six-member squad comes on the heels of his MAC Sportsman of the Year honor, garnered at the league championships earlier this month.

Jecklin graduated in May with a 3.83 GPA in finance. During his senior season, Jecklin finished seventh at the MAC Championships and earned MAC Co-Golfer of the Week honors after finishing in a second-place tie at the FirstEnergy Invitational, a career-best finish and the highest Huskie finish of the 2007-08 season.

"Zach really had a solid senior year for us," said head coach John Cleary. "He capped off the season very well with a second-place finish at the FirstEnergy and a top-10 finish at the MAC Tournament where he earned the Sportsman of the Year award. Zach was a 4.0 student in his final three semesters and typifies what a student-athlete should be."

An Academic All-MAC selection in both 2006 and 2007, Jecklin is the second three-time honoree at NIU, following Nick Schenk (2004-06). The award also marks the fifth consecutive season that a Huskie golfer has earned academic all-league status.

"This is a nice honor and we certainly take pride in having well-rounded student-athletes," added Cleary. "It has been an honor to coach two three-time Academic All-MAC selections."

MAC Faculty Athletic Representatives vote on the Academic All-MAC team from a list of student-athletes who have excelled in athletic and academics. To qualify, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA and have participated in at least 50 percent of the contests for his/her particular sport.