MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama center Joseph Scelfo has been named to the Lombardi Award watch list for 2015, his second preseason watch list selection in a week, while the Jaguars’ men’s and women’s track and field and cross country programs swept the Sun Belt Conference’s Team GPA awards.
Scelfo Adds Second Watch List
Scelfo, a junior, was named Tuesday to the watch list for the 2015 Rotary Lombardi Award. Last week he was selected to the Rimington Trophy fall watch list, which honors the most outstanding center in NCAA Division I-A football at season’s end.
The Rotary Lombardi Award is open only to linemen on offense or defense who line up no farther than 10 yards to the left or right of the ball, and to linebackers who line up no more than 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage.
In 2014, his first season as a starter, Scelfo was one of two South Alabama offensive linemen to start all 13 games and was a multiple-time winner of the coaches’ weekly award. He posted a season-high grade of 88 percent in the Jaguars’ win over Troy and graded 87 percent against Bowling Green in the program’s first bowl game. He also graded 83 percent against South Carolina and 81 percent against Mississippi State.
South Alabama received its first postseason invitation to the inaugural Raycom Media Camellia Bowl in just its second season of full Football Bowl Subdivision membership, making the Jaguars the fastest program to reach a bowl game after joining the FBS.
Scelfo has also been named first-team preseason All-Sun Belt by Phil Steele Publications and second-team preseason All-Sun Belt by Athlon Sports.
Track and Field, Cross Country Earn Team GPA Honors
The Sun Belt Conference released its 2014-15 Team GPA award winners Tuesday, and South Alabama’s men’s and women’s track and field and cross country teams earned honors for both the fall and spring semesters.
Cross Country
The South Alabama men posted a combined cumulative GPA of 3.19 to earn the cross country award. The men also won the Sun Belt Cross Country Championships on Nov. 2 at Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile.
The women’s cross country team was honored after posting a 3.67 GPA over the past year.
Track and Field
Both programs also received the Team GPA award in track and field. The men recorded a 3.17 GPA over the two semesters, making South Alabama the only men’s track team in the conference with a team average above 3.00. The women posted a 3.41 GPA.
Consecutive Honors
It is the second straight year South Alabama has earned the Team GPA award in both men’s and women’s cross country, and the second consecutive year the Jaguars have earned the honor in track and field.
Individually, 26 women and 22 men from the two programs earned a GPA of 3.0 or higher last semester, and a combined 28 team members were named to the Dean’s List.
