ST. LOUIS -- Missouri State senior Jared Emery (WR, Mountain Grove, Mo.) and junior David Arkin (OL, Wichita, Kan.) are among 43 student-athletes, including 12 who earned first-team honors, selected to the 2009 all-Missouri Valley Football Conference all-academic team, announced by the league office today. The two all-academic first teamers are among five Bears honored by the MVFC.
Emery has a 3.74 grade point average in Microbiology and Biotechnology. He earned MVFC All-Conference honorable mention distinction last week after tallying 24 receptions for 370 yards in 2009 with a pair of touchdowns. He had a career-high 7 receptions for 67 yards against South Dakota State (10/10/09) and 4 receptions for 91 yards at Western Illinois (10/17/09). This is his third time being honored by the league after also claiming 2007 and 2008 MVFC All-Academic Team selections. Emery is a 2009 CoSIDA / ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District 7 selection and also earned MSU Player of the Week and Offensive Player of the Week for the South Dakota State game.
Arkin has a 3.70 GPA in Construction Management, Finance and Real Estate. He was a 2009 MVFC First-Team selection after earning second-team honors in 2007 and 2008. He is a four-time Missouri Valley Football Conference Offensive Lineman of the Week (8/30/07, 9/22/07, 10/3/09, 11/7/09) and member of the 2007 MFVC All-Newcomer Team. Like Emery, this is Arkin's third time to be recognized on the all-academic team after finding a spot on the 2007 and 2008 MVFC All-Academic Second Team. He is also a CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District 7 first-team pick and 2008 Missouri Valley Conference Good Neighbor Award recipient. Arkin has started 33 straight games and has won the MSU Offensive Lineman of the Week Award 14 times.
Three other Bears were also recognized as Academic All-MVFC honorable mention -- Jordan Chiles (So., Punter, Hillsboro, lll., 3.35 GPA, Exercise & Movement Science/Pre-Professional); Matt Hottelman (Sr., K, O'Fallon, Mo., 3.37 GPA, Construction Management); and Skylar Smith (Jr., DB, Springfield, Mo., 3.32 GPA, Finance).
