As a junior last fall,  Garth Heikkinen carved himself out a spot on four different All-American teams and, at least as far as the folks at USA College Football are concerned, there is no reason not to expect more of the same from the University of Minnesota Duluth offensive guard in 2012.

Today, Heikkinen, a 2012 Bulldog team captain, was among 30 offensive players chosen to that group's preseason All-American first team. Heikkinen, who last month was chosen to the Beyond Sports College Network (BSN) NCAA II Preseason All-American Team, has started 42 consecutive games over the past three seasons (which is five starts shy of the UMD record) and is a three-time All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference North Division honoree (first team in 2011 and 2010 and honorable mention in 2009). In 2011, he attained All-American status from the Associated Press, American Football Coaches Association, D2Football.com and Daktronics after anchoring an offensive line which helped UMD roll up the highest regular season rushing yardage in the NSIC. 

Heikkinen and his Bulldog teammates held down the No. 4 spot in the USA College Football Division II preseason poll, which was also released today.

USA College Football Division II Preseason All-American Team/Poll