Groh Named 2007 Gilburg Award Division III Punter of the Year

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (Dec. 18, 2007) – Occidental College punter Alex Groh has been named the 2007 recipient of the Gilburg Award as the outstanding punter in Division III.

Since 2004, the Gilburg Award has been presented annually to the consensus All-America punter compiled from the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), D3football.com and Associated Press Little All-America teams. It is named in honor of retired Franklin & Marshall football coach and former NCAA Division I and NFL punter, Tom Gilburg.

The head football coach at Franklin & Marshall from 1975-2002, Gilburg was a standout punter first at Syracuse and later in the National Football League with the Baltimore Colts. A native of Chappaqua, N.Y., he compiled a 160-112-2 record in football over 28 seasons on the sidelines at F&M, the most wins by a coach in the program's history.

A native of Fountain Hills, Arizona, Groh is the first recipient of the Gilburg Award to sweep the All-America first teams as he garnered top honors on the Associated Press Little All-America, D3football.com and American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) teams. A 2007 first team and 2006 second team All-SCIAC selection, he led the nation in punt average this year recording a 45.9 yard average (36 punts for 1,652 yards) with 11 kicks inside the 20-yard line. His longest punt of the season came on October 27 versus California Lutheran University as he send a ball 61 yards for his third 50+ yard punt of the game. For his career, he has 60 punts for 2,637 yards and an average of 43.95 yards with 18 kicks inside the 20 as he connected on 24 punts for 985 yards (41.0 ypp average) as a freshman.

Gilburg Division III Punter of the Year Recipients:

2004 Dan Eggertsson Sr. Franklin & Marshall College

2005 Hunter Hamrick Jr. Mary Hardin Baylor College

2006 Kevin Soflkiancs Jr. Baldwin Wallace College

2007 Alex Groh So. Occidental College

--Story courtesy of the Gilburg Award Association—