Moon Township, Pa. - A pair of student-athletes from the Robert Morris University football team continued to pull in Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) All-American honors Wednesday.
Junior tight end Shadrae King (McKeesport, Pa. / McKeesport) was named to The Sports Network/Fathead.com 2010 FCS All-America Third Team and Phil Steele's 2010 FCS All-America Third Team, while senior offensive lineman Corey Konycki (Hunlock Creek, Pa. / Wyoming Seminary) earned a spot on Phil Steele's 2010 FCS All-America Fourth Team.
Both King and Konycki have now each been named to the three All-American teams after helping lead RMU to an overall record of 8-3 in 2010, including a share of the 2010 Northeast Conference championship with a 7-1 league mark and the conference's inaugural bid to the FCS playoffs.
The 6'3", 225-pound King led RMU in 2010 in receptions (43), receiving yards (531) and touchdown catches (7) en route to being named to the All-Northeast Conference First Team.
King, who was also named to the Associated Press 2010 All-America First Team, tied for fifth in the NEC in receptions per game (3.91) while ranking seventh in receiving yards per contest (48.3). His seven touchdown receptions were also good enough to rank second in the conference, trailing only Duquesne's Dave Williams (10).
Entering his final season of eligibility in 2011, King owns 94 career catches for 1,174 yards and 16 touchdowns. He is tied for third all-time in career receptions with former wide receiver Sherrod Evers (2006-09) and needs just 19 catches next season to establish a new Robert Morris record in the category. King also ranks third in career touchdown receptions and seventh in receiving yards.
Konycki has earned spots on the 2010 Associated Press FCS All-America Second Team and the 2010 American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) FCS All-America Team in addition to his honor from Phil Steele.
The 6'5", 315-pound Konycki started all 11 games for Robert Morris at right tackle and helped anchor an offensive line that averaged 358.3 yards of total offense per game in 2010, including 183.7 rushing yards per contest.
Robert Morris established a new team record for rushing yards in 2010 with 2,021, and in a 42-24 victory over Central Connecticut State (11/6) at Joe Walton Stadium that helped the Colonials clinch the inaugural bid to the FCS playoffs, RMU compiled 335 yards, a single-game school record.
A four-year starter on the offensive line, Konycki earned his 41st start at North Dakota State (11/27) in the first round of the 2010 FCS playoffs, tying a Robert Morris school record for the most career starts by an offensive lineman.
Former Colonial Clifton Jean Jacques started 41 games at left guard from 2002-05, while Konycki's teammate, senior left tackle Carlos Andrade (Newark, N.J. / Westminster Academy), also earned his 41st career start at North Dakota State.
Konycki also started 34 straight games on the offensive line at RMU, tied with Andrade for the third longest streak at the position in school history. Konycki started 22 straight games at right tackle over the course of the 2009 and 2010 seasons after starting 12 consecutive games at right guard in 2007 and 2008.
One of nine Colonials named to the 2010 All-NEC First Team, Konycki highlighted an offensive line that allowed senior running back Myles Russ (Boca Raton, Fla. / West Boca), the 2010 NEC Offensive Player of the Year, to become the first player in school history to post three straight 1,000-yard rushing seasons.
Russ finished the 2010 campaign with 1,363 yards and 10 touchdowns and during the season became RMU's all-time leading rusher, finishing his career with 4,271 yards.
Led by Joe Walton, the only head coach in the 17-year history of the Robert Morris program, the Colonials have claimed six Northeast Conference championships (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2010), a league high, and have made three postseason appearances under Walton, including back-to-back wins in the ECAC Bowl in 1996 and 1997 and the NEC's first appearance in the FCS playoffs in 2010.
