(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – For the second straight season, the Carnegie Mellon University football team had eight members named to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District Football Team on Thursday. To be nominated for the award, a student-athlete must be a starter or significant reserve and maintain a GPA of 3.3 or better.
Carnegie Mellon is part of District 4 which is comprised of all Division III schools in the state of Pennsylvania. All eight honorees advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Team ballot, where first-, second- and third-team All-America honorees will be announced December 11.
Senior defensive lineman Michael Lohmeier (Clarendon Hills, Ill./Hinsdale Central) and classmate defensive back Anthony Kennon (Lancaster, Mass./Nashoba Regional) are making their third straight appearance on the all-district team while graduate student defensive lineman Long Tran (Harrisburg, Pa./Susquehanna Township) and senior defensive back Parker Mellott (Ijamsville, Md./Urbana) are being honored for the second consecutive season. Four juniors, running back Luke Bikulege (Greer, S.C./St. Joseph's Catholic) and outside linebacker Danny Zahniser (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East) along with offensive linemen Bram Miller (Colgate, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran) and Logan Stahl (Oil City, Pa./Oil City Area), are being recognized for the first time.
The five defensive players have played a valuable part in leading the Tartans to the top defense in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) by allowing 276.4 yards per game, which also ranks 25th in Division III. The Tartans are allowing 12.9 points per contest which also is tops in the PAC and ranks 14th nationally. Lohmeier and Tran have accounted for 16.5 of the team's 31 sacks this season. Tran has totaled 8.5 and Lohmeier 8.0, which rank third and fourth, respectively, in the PAC and 21st and 32nd nationally. Lohmeier has also recorded 16.0 tackles for a loss, ranking tops on the team and second in the PAC. The two also rank fourth and fifth in career sacks at Carnegie Mellon with Tran totaling 19.5 and Lohmeier 19.0.
Mellott currently ranks ninth on the Tartans with 27 tackles including 14 solo. He recorded his first career interception to help secure the Tartans win over MIT and also has a fumble recovery this season. Kennon, who has been nagged by injuries all season, has played in five contests and recorded 13 tackles, 10 solo, an interception and four pass breakups, three coming against then nationally ranked 12th Washington & Jefferson College. Zahniser ranks fifth on the team with 36 tackles and has recorded two tackles for a loss including his first career sack at Geneva.
Bikulege has rushed for 373 yards on 77 carries for an average of 4.8 yards per carry, which ranks fifth in the PAC, and six touchdowns. The junior also has caught nine passes for 49 yards. In the Tartans win over Waynesburg, he rushed for a career-best 93 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns. Both Miller and Stahl have played a key part in blocking upfront for Bikulege while helping the offense reach the 513-yard mark against Thiel.
Lohmeier, a 2019 William V. Campbell Trophy Finalist and a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American, has a 4.00 GPA as a business administration major. This past summer, Lohmeier was an investment banking analyst at Lazard in New York City. He has been a market research analyst for Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Chicago and an equity research analyst for Robotti Securities & Company in New York. Lohmeier has volunteered at the Western Spring Sectional competition of the Special Olympics of Pennsylvania and is currently the liaison for the Tartans football team calendar fundraiser for the Pittsburgh Children's Hospital. The senior recently was inducted into the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society and also is a member of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. Lohmeier, who is the president of Carnegie Mellon's Investment Banking Academy, is a two-time UAA Presidents Council Scholar-Athlete Team honoree and also a PAC honor roll and UAA All-Academic honoree.
Kennon has a 3.77 GPA and is a mechanical engineering major. This past summer, he interned for Medtronic and has also interned for Sensata Technologies. Kennon continues to serve as a teacher's assistant in the physics department and volunteers for the 1,000+ Service Day initiative at Carnegie Mellon. He is a member of CMU Plaidvocates, a peer health and wellness advocacy program for athletes. Kennon is a member of the Invitation to Mortar Board Honor Society and Tau Beta Pi Engineering Society.
Tran, who graduated with his undergraduate degree in May 2019 with a 3.65 GPA in mechanical and biomedical engineering, is currently working towards his master's in mechanical engineering and holds a 4.00 GPA. He is a member of SAAC and Plaidvocates, volunteers with Special Olympics and has also been involved with the Lincoln Elementary tutoring program by Carnegie Mellon athletes where he visits the school weekly to assist students in math and science. Most recently, Tran has worked as an Electrical Engineering intern for Forest Devices. He has also been a Manufacturing Engineering intern for Oberg Medical, a Hot Mill Process Engineering intern for Nucor Steel and a Technical Engineering intern for PennDOT Materials Testing Lab.
Mellott carries a 4.00 GPA as a business administration major and was named a CoSIDA Academic All-American last season. He recently was inducted into the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society and also is a member of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. He also volunteers for the 1,000+ Service Day initiative and at the Carnegie Mellon Athletic Field Day. Mellott is the vice president of Communications of Alpha Sigma Phi and is the former president of Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity, while also a member of the Tepper Finance Group and a member of the Carnegie Mellon Wall Street Club. This past summer he was an Investment Banking Analyst for Guggenheim Securities in New York City. He has been a Wealth Management intern at Merrill Lynch and worked as an Equity Research Analyst for Robotti Securities & Company in New York. Mellott is a PAC honor roll and UAA All-Academic honoree.
Bikulege is a finance major in the Tepper School of Business and carries a 3.46 GPA. Bikulege volunteers with Special Olympics and participates in the fundraiser for Pittsburgh Children's Hospital. He is a member of the Carnegie Mellon Investment Banking Academy. Scottie Ventures and Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity. This past summer he held two different internships, the first with South State Bank and the second with Nelson Mullins Riley and Scarborough, both in Greenville, South Carolina. Bikulege has also been a shadowing intern for Novolex in New York City and has an upcoming internship as an Investment Banking Summer Analyst at Deutsche Bank in Chicago this summer.
Zahniser carries a 3.49 GPA and is a chemical engineering major. He is the vice president of Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity. For the last two summers, Zahniser has been an engineering intern for Test Products in Exton, Pennsylvania.
Miller, a mechanical engineer who maintains a 3.62 GPA while participating in three sport seasons, was named to the CoSIDA Track and Field Academic All-District squad this past spring. The junior became the first male athlete in school history to compete in two field events on the national stage at the Track and Field Championships. He is a three-time PAC honor roll honoree and a seven-time UAA All-Academic honoree.
Stahl is also a mechanical engineer who maintains a 3.75 GPA and participates in three sport seasons. He is a Residential Advisor at Carnegie Mellon and is a two-time College of Engineering Dean's List honoree. Stahl is a member of Alpha Sigma Phi where he served as the Philanthropy Director. During the summer of 2019, he interned for Komatsu Mining Corporation and interned for Pioneer Energy Products (PEPRO) LLC in the summer of 2018.