UMD Bulldogs "ALLETE" Moments: Classroom
Throughout this year, UMD Athletics is partnering with Minnesota Power, ALLETE to highlight the Bulldogs accomplishments in the 3 C's: Classroom, Competition, Community. 

Six University of Minnesota Duluth football student athletes were selected by the College Sports Communicators to the 2023 Academic All-District Football Team Tuesday.

Sophomore DeShaun Ames, senior Ethan Beffert, redshirt senior Justin Hull, graduate Arik Johnson, redshirt senior Sam Pitz and redshirt sophomore Kyle Walljasper all landed the honor, with all six players denoted eligible to advance to the national ballot to be voted on by CSC members. First-, second- and third-team Academic All-America honorees will be announced Jan. 23, 2024. 

Beffert, Hull, Johnson and Pitz are all repeat honorees after earning the honor in 2022-23, while Johnson was a 2022-23 CSC First Team Academic All-American.

All six were also recently named to the NSIC Fall All-Academic Team, and all six also earned NSIC Academic Team of Excellence status, awarded only to student athletes who have 3.60 cumulative GPA or higher.

The 2023 Academic All-District® Football teams, selected by College Sports Communicators (CSC), recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes football honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, and NAIA. Players must have a GPA of 3.50 or above and be a starter or highly used reserve.

About Minnesota Power, ALLETE:
Our bold vision centers on our commitment to climate, customers and communities. We're a clean-energy leader under our EnergyForward strategy, already delivering 50% renewable energy ahead of all other Minnesota utilities. Now we're doubling down on that with a vision to deliver 100% carbon-free energy to customers reliably and affordably by 2050. Learn more at: https://www.mnpower.com/CarbonFreeEnergyVision