CONTACT: Jeff Foley (518) 629-8085 or (518) 373-1262
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Monday, December 3, 2001
http://www.hvcc.edu
The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) named Hudson Valley Community College wide receiver Shawn Miller (Troy H.S.) a First Team All-American on Monday. Miller, who was previously named the 2001 Northeast Football Conference (NFC) Offensive Player of the Year, was the second-leading receiver in the nation among junior college football players this past season.
The second-year student-athlete had 41 receptions for 611 yards and nine touchdowns in 2001. He also had 947 all-purpose yards, helping Hudson Valley post a 6-2 record..
Miller, the only offensive player on this year's All-American list to hail from an NFC school - the NJCAA releases a list that includes First and Second Team selections, as well as Honorable Mention honorees, at the end of each season - is Hudson Valley's second First Team All-American football player in the past two years. Defensive back Derrick Black (Tarboro H.S.), who earned a full football scholarship to Appalachian State, was a First Team choice in 2000. Miller, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 183 pounds, is being recruited by major NCAA Division I schools.
Miller, who holds Hudson Valley's record for receptions in a game (11) and receiving yards in a game (189), finished his two-year Hudson Valley career with the second-most catches (74) and receiving touchdowns (16) in school history. Jay Kearney had 80 receptions in 1990 and 1991. During that same timeframe, Kearney caught 17 touchdown passes.
Hudson Valley's football program was established in 1969. At the time, Hudson Valley was one of only two junior colleges in New York to field a varsity football team. Since then, nearly 300 Hudson Valley football players have earned scholarships to four-year schools and 15 have gone on to play professionally. The Vikings competed in the Coca-Cola Bowl in Iowa in 1980. In 1996, Hudson Valley posted an 8-0 record, part of a dominant stretch that included 15 straight victories.