Senior cornerback Evan Zupancic and senior offensive tackle Adam Collette of the football team were recently honored as Div. III All-Americans by several different publications. D3football.com named Zupancic as a second team Div. III All-American, while Collete was an honorable mention selection. Hewlett Packard also recognized Zupancic as a third team selection to its team, and the New England Football Writers voted him to their Divisions II-III All-Star team.
The awards heaved upon Zupancic were the crowning achievement of a career in which he started every game in four years and broke Tufts' all-time interception record. Zupancic finished his career with 20, shattering the previous record of 15 set by Scott Burnham between 1979-82.
Seven of those picks came this season, when Zupancic also recorded 37 tackles and broke up 12 passes, giving him a combined 19 passes defended, or a 2.4 per game average, which was sixth best in the nation. He also displayed his versatility by adding an element of speed to the team's offense, where he caught four passes for 51 yards this year. Additionally, he returned several punts and kickoffs for the team.
Football isn't the only sport where this Jumbo has set records; last season he set the Jumbos' single season record with 11 home runs for the baseball team, where he starts in centerfield and is a two-time captain.
Zupancic has also won two consecutive Rudolph J. Fobert Awards, presented to the university's best multi-sport athlete. After he broke the school's interceptions record in January, coach Bill Samko told the Boston Herald that he thought Zupancic would go down as the greatest two-sport athlete in Tufts' history.
"He's a winner," Samko said. "It's no accident."
In addition to being All-Americans, both Zupancic and Collete made Don Hansen's Football Gazette All-East Team. Zupancic made the first team defense and Collette was a member of the third-string defense. Both players were also first team selections on the All-NESCAC and All-ECAC teams and Collette was selected to play with a distinct group of Div. III All-Stars against a Mexican team in the Dec. 14 Aztec Bowl in Torreon, Mexico.
"I don't really expect anything from the game," Collette said. "So it was a pretty big surprise."
Samko called Collete "one of the hardest workers we've had in this program," as evidenced by the fact that Collette added close to 70 pounds to his 6'8" frame during his career as a Jumbo. Collette didn't allow a sack his entire senior season, providing time for quarterback Scott Treacy to throw for 12 touchdown strikes, the most at Tufts in two decades.
Collette deflected praise from himself, however. "I thought the senior class as a whole really took a leadership role on the line, not just one person in particular," Collette said.
Unfortunately, the team suffered several close losses to finish 3-5 after a promising 3-0 start.
"I was still proud of the team and the way we played," Collette said.
"They're both quite deserving of their awards," Samko said. "They're great kids and they've done Tufts proud on and off the field."
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