June 15, 2002

Bulldog Football Team Ranked 23rd in Street & Smith Preseason Poll

In The Street & Smith's 2002 Preseason Top 25 poll recently released, the Truman football team garnered the 23rd spot among NCAA Division II teams. In addition, Street & Smith named place kicker Austin Lepper (Ames, Iowa/Gilbert) to its preseason all-America team.

Last year, Lepper led the team and finished fifth in the league in scoring with 7.1 points a game (78). He was second in the league in field goals (1.27 pg) and field goal percentage (77.8, 14 of 18), and ranked second in the nation in field goal percentage (1.64 pg) and tied for 27th in scoring with 8.18 points a game. He made good on two game-winning kicks last year when he booted a 46-yard field goal with six-tenths of a second remaining in a 27-26 win over Washburn, and with a PAT kick in the closing seconds of the game with Northwest Missouri that Truman won, 24-23.

in 2001, The Bulldogs completed their sixth winning season in the seven-year tenure of head coach John Ware. Ware's team registered eight wins for the first time since 1994. The Bulldogs finished the season with an 8-3 record and were 6-3 in Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association action, tying for third-place in the conference.

Street & Smith's Division II Preseason Top 25
 1. Grand Valley State
 2. Pittsburg State (Kan.)
 3. Cal-Davis
 4. North Dakota
 5. Valdosta State (Ga.)
 6. Catawba 
 7. Texas A&M-Kingsville
 8. Tarleton State
 9. Indiana University, Pennsylvania
10. Tuskegee
11. Saginaw Valley State
12. Chadron State
13. Nebraska-Omaha
14. Bloomsburg
15. Winona State
16. Western Washington
17. Nebraska-Kearney
18. Fort Valley State
19. East Stroudsburg
20. Northwest Missouri State
21. Kutztown
22. C.W. Post
23. Truman State University
24. North Dakota State
25. Bentley

Street & Smith's D-II Preseason All-American Team
Offense:
QB-Curt Anes, Sr., Grand Valley
RB-Ian Smart, Sr., C.W. Post
RB-Eddie Acosta, Sr., Bemidji State
WR-David Kircus, Sr., Grand Valley State
WR-Dee Dee Carter, Jr., Central Oklahoma
OL-Chris Booker, Sr., Delta State
OL-Seth Wand, Sr., NW Missouri
OL-Micah Lomas, Sr., Northeastern State
OL-Chad Lackowski, Jr., Saginaw Valley
OL-Forest Vance, Jr., UC Davis
TE-C.J. Lofton, Sr., Valdosta State
KR-Donald Amaker, Jr., Tusculum
K-Austin Lepper, Sr., Truman State

Defense:
DL-Leif Murphy, Sr., North Dakota State
DL-Aaron McConnell, Jr., Pittsburg State
DL-Ben Dixon, Sr., North Dakota
DL-Andrew Tippins, Sr., Minn. State-Mankato
LB-Todd McComb, Sr., Catawba
LB-Tim Polk, Jr., Harding
LB-Mike Fowler, Sr., Valdosta State
DB-Dontaye McCoy, Sr., Emporia State
DB-Gregg Albano, Sr., Bentley
DB-Charles Davis, Sr., Tarleton State
DB-Pete Mendez, Sr., Kutztown
P-Jason Langland, Sr., South Dakota State

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