Greencastle, Ind. - DePauw linebacker Jonathan Bruder (Sr., Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) and wide receiver Robby Ballentine (Jr., Crown Point, Ind./Andrean) have been selected First Team Academic All-America® as selected by CSC (College Sports Communicators) for NCAA Division III football. They are among 51 student-athletes to earn the distinction overall and one of just 25 named to the first team.

A biochemistry major with a 3.87 cumulative grade point average, Bruder was a fourth team D3football.com all-America selection and was voted the NCAC's Hank Critchfield Award recipient as the league's defensive player of the year. He led the Tigers with 79 tackles including 1.5 sacks for six yards and 6.0 tackles for losses totaling 16 yards. Bruder had two interceptions including one against Denison that he returned 70 yards for a touchdown.

Ballentine, a biochemistry and global health double major, earned second team D3football.com all-America accolades. He led DePauw with 78 receptions for 1,204 yards and a school and North Coast Athletic Conference-record 20 touchdown catches which ranked third in Division III this season. He caught a least two passes in all 12 games and had at least one touchdown catch in 11 contests. Ballentine topped the 100-yard plateau seven times with a high of 194 yards in the NCAA second-round win over Maryville (Tenn.).

This marks the second time in program history that two DePauw football student-athletes have been chosen to the first team in the same year as Tom Beaulieu and Matt Nelson did so in 1991. These two are among DePauw's 55 student-athletes to earn Academic All-America® honors since the program's inception in 1952. Including multiple-year winners, DePauw student-athletes have earned the distinction 72 times. DePauw men's soccer defender Alec McCarty earned third team honors in December. The complete list of DePauw's honorees is here.

For more information about CSC's Academic All-America® Teams program, visit AcademicAllAmerica.com or collegesportscommunicators.com.