Alyssa McKenna, Staff Writer

Junior Maki Medici was awarded an honorable mention for the Division III All-American award. 

Medici was named the Empire 8 Conference’s Special teams Player of the Year and was a first-team All-Conference selection as a kicker and punter and he finished 15 out of 19 on field-goal attempts this season. 

Medici notched a 48-yard field goal this season, which was the longest in UC’s history and in Empire 8 history. Medici led the Empire 8 with field goals made, attempted and in field goal percentage. 

“Receiving the award of honorable mention All-American means so much more than football to me,” Medici said. “Usually, people get these awards senior year and I have been lucky to get my first during my junior year. I thank everyone who has helped me along the way to get such a great achievement as that one.” 

Medici was successful with 78.9 percent of his kicks, made 31 extra points and averaged 7.6 points per game, tying for the league lead among all kickers. 

“Receiving the award of honorable mention All-American means so much more than football to me. Usually, people get these awards senior year and I have been lucky to get my first during my junior year. I thank everyone who has helped me along the way to get such a great achievement as that one.” 

Maki Medici, UC football player

Another accomplishment was his average of a net 37.8 yards per punt with 23 of his 42 attempts resulting in a fair catch. 

Josh Fenical, a senior leader on the team, spoke on Medici’s accomplishments for the season stating that the player’s secret have been his consistency and making very long field goals.

“(The award) is special because it is a very hard award to receive and only the best of the best actually get it.”

Fenical also noted that Medici had the ability to decide whether or not the Pioneers came out with a victory this season on numerous occasions, which was evident in the win against Alfred University in a 19-10 where Medici scored 12 points.