GALESBURG, Ill. — The College Sports Communicators (CSC) announced its Academic All-District Teams for football across each of the NCAA Divisions and NAIA on Tuesday afternoon, and Knox College had five players recognized on the Division III team: Aiden Frail, Cole Gino, Julian Sanderson, Jonathan Sarich and Anthony Vazquez. 

A sophomore running back from Brimfield, Illinois, Frail saw action in all 10 games this past fall, carrying the ball 22 times for an average of 6.9 yards per carry, the highest average of all Prairie Fire players with at least 10 rushes. In addition to his 157 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, the biology major caught a pair of passes for 27 yards, both receptions coming against Illinois College. Frail, an Academic All-Midwest Conference selection as a rookie last year, also provided the second-longest run of the season in a 17-13 win over Beloit, galloping 52 yards.

Gino, a junior running back from Shaftsbury, Vermont, is a double major in anthropology and sociology and started all 10 games in the offensive backfield. An effective runner and receiver, he took the handoff 18 times during the season for 51 yards and tied for the team lead with 10 receptions that totaled 93 yards. Gino caught at least one pass in eight of the 10 games and is a two-time Academic All-Midwest Conference honoree.

A sophomore linebacker from Taylorsville, Utah, Sanderson started all 10 games and amassed 18 tackles. The business and management major had his biggest game in the win over Beloit, collecting six stops, five solo, and had four more tackles against Grinnell. Like Frail, Sanderson was an Academic All-Midwest Conference selection as a first year player last year.

Sarich was a stalwart for the Prairie Fire defense, starting all 10 games as a fifth-year defensive end. The business major from Woodridge, Illinois, led the team with 5.5 sacks and was second on the squad with 52 tackles and six tackles for a loss. He is another two-time Academic All-Midwest Conference honoree and a 2023 All-Midwest Conference Second Team selection who had a season-high nine tackles against Grinnell this past fall while dropping seven ball carriers in three other contests.

A senior quarterback out of Whittier, California, Vazquez played in every game, starting six behind center for Knox. The double major in economics and business management carried the ball 87 times for 264 yards, scoring a pair of touchdowns and led the Prairie Fire to victories in their first two games of the season for the first time in seven years. In addition, he completed 26 passes for 226 yards out of the triple-option offense and is a seven-time Academic All-Midwest Conference performer in football and track and field.