Moon Township, Pa. - Senior offensive lineman Corey Konycki (Hunlock Creek, Pa. / Wyoming Seminary) of the Robert Morris University football team was named to the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) 2010 Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Coaches' All-America Team, it was announced Tuesday.
The AFCA has selected an All-America Team since 1945 and currently selects teams in all five of its divisions.
Konycki is the second Colonial to earn All-American honors from the AFCA, joining former linebacker James Noel (2001-04), who was named to the 2004 AFCA I-AA All-America Team.
The 6'5", 315-pound Konycki started all 11 games for Robert Morris at right tackle and helped lead the Colonials to an overall record of 8-3, including a share of the 2010 Northeast Conference regular-season championship with a 7-1 league mark. RMU earned the league's inaugural bid to the FCS playoffs, where it dropped a 43-17 decision at No. 25 North Dakota State (11/27).
Konycki 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 against the Bison 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. RMU has 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.
