December 18, 2006

All-American punter Dominick Ancona (Photo by Ken DeBolt)

GENEVA, N.Y.—Hobart junior punter Dominick Ancona (Chaminade/Garden City, N.Y.) was named to the D3football.com All-America team prior to the kickoff of the NCAA Division III championship game on Dec. 16. He earned a spot on the honorable mention team, becoming the fifth Statesmen to earn All-American recognition from the Web site since 1999.

Ancona led the Liberty League and ranked fifth in the nation in punting average. His 41.32 yards per punt are a Hobart single season record. Ancona launched nine punts this season that traveled 50 yards or more, including a 65-yarder against Union on Nov. 4.

The first-team All-Liberty League selection dropped 14 punts inside the opponent’s 20-yard line, including three at Alfred and three more against Rochester. Ancona was named the Liberty League Special Teams Performer of the Week three times this season and earned a spot on the D3football.com Team of the Week after averaging 46.5 yards per punt against the Saxons.

Ancona helped Hobart to an 8-1 regular season record, including a 5-1 mark in the Liberty League. The Statesmen earned a share of the conference championship and made their third consecutive and fifth overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Hobart lost a heartbreaking 20-18 decision at Rowan to finish the year with an 8-2 record.

The previous Hobart players named to the D3football.com All-America Teams are offensive guard Alex Bell ’05 (2003 third team, 2004 first team), running back Doug Blakowski ’07 (2005 honorable mention), linebacker Tim Booth ’03 (2000 & 2002 honorable mention), and defensive end Rob Gould ’01 (2000 honorable mention).