The Watch List for the Fred Mitchell Award includes 44 Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), Division II, III, National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) collegiate place-kickers that were nominated by their colleges for excellence on the football field and in the community.  WSU junior Stefan Terleckyj (Warren, Mich./Mott) is on the watch list for the second consecutive season.

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The Award's Selection Committee Chairman Chris Kearney said, “These place-kickers are terrific on the football field and off the field representing their schools, their football teams, their conferences, their communities, their families and themselves. We look forward to following their accomplishments during the next few months.” The Watch List includes place-kickers from more than 750 eligible colleges. Fred Mitchell said, “It is a pleasure to include these fine young men on the Watch List for this Award. We are delighted to recognize them based on outstanding performance in the community and expectations going into the 2012 college football season. It is also a thrill to see so many familiar names on the Watch List, including 22 place-kickers that were finalists for the Award last season.”

The breakdown of the 44 place-kickers is as follows:
•   Collegiate Division – 16 FCS, 11 Division II, 14 Division III, 0 NAIA and 3 NJCAA

•   State – the place-kickers play at schools located in 25 different states, five play at schools in Pennsylvania

•   Year – 23 Seniors, 14 Juniors, 7 Sophomores

•   Fred Mitchell Award Finalists in 2011 that are on the 2012 Watch List - 22

STEFAN TERLECKYJ
Wayne State University (Michigan) – Division II
Junior from Warren, MI….school's all-time leader in PATs made (114) and attempted (116) after only two years ... ranks 4th in FG's made with 23 ... named to the 2011 All-GLIAC Honorable Mention team as well as the 2011 GLIAC All-Academic Team .... tied his own WSU school record with nine made PATs against Urbana to earn WSU's Special Teams Player of the Week honor... earned GLIAC Special Teams Player of the Week honors after scoring 12 points (3-3 PAT, 3-4 FG) in win at Northern Michigan ... connected on both FG attempts against Saginaw Valley to earn WSU's Special Teams Player of the Week award ... made his last six PAT attempts at St. Cloud after having his streak of 44 straight end on the first attempt in blizzard conditions in first round NCAA playoff game... scored 8 points at Nebraska-Kearney on 5 PATs and a season-best 43-yard FG ... became WSU's all-time leader in PATs with his fourth at Minnesota-Duluth (108 for career) as WSU defeated the defending national champions on its home field ... recorded a kickoff coverage tackle at UMD saving a potential TD ... made all three PAT attempts in both the national semifinal at Winston-Salem State and national championship game ... set the WSU single-season scoring record by a kicker with 106 points ... finished first in both PATs made (21) and PATs attempted (22) for the 2011 NCAA Division II playoffs ... helped sell merchandise for breast cancer awareness at the WSU women's basketball game ... collected small toiletry items to make basic needs bags for the Covenant House Michigan as part of the Wayne Cares program ... participated in United Way's Martin Luther King Day of Service by assisting the Motor City Blight Busters with a renovation project in metropolitan Detroit.


About the Fred Mitchell Award
The annual Fred Mitchell Outstanding Place-Kicker Award (also known as the Fred Mitchell Award, www.fredmitchellaward.com) is provided to the nation's top collegiate place-kicker among more than 750 FCS, Division II, III, NAIA and NJCAA football teams. The Award is named for Fred Mitchell, the record-setting place-kicker, Wittenberg University Athletic Hall of Famer, author, philanthropist and Chicago Tribune sports columnist. The recipient of the Fred Mitchell Award will be chosen based on excellence on the football field and in the community. The Award's Watch List is released in August, top performers are recognized monthly during the college football season, and the winner (who is not required to be on the Watch List) is announced in mid-December. The school of the Award winner receives scholarship funds and the Fred Mitchell Award trophy will be presented in February 2013 at the National Football Foundation Chicago Metro Chapter Awards Ceremony at Halas Hall.

A blue-ribbon Selection Committee (listed at www.fredmitchellaward.com) evaluates place-kickers that are nominated by their schools. Members of the Pro and/or College Football Hall of Fame on the Selection Committee include Tom Beck, Kevin Butler, Paul Hornung, Marv Levy, Steve McMichael, Don Pierson and Gale Sayers. Former football players and others that are active in their communities are also on the Selection Committee including Carl Allegretti, Sean Gothier, Teddy Greenstein, Michael Husted, Dan Jiggetts, Rick Kolaczewski, Connie Kowal, Greg Loberg, Tom Lynch, Carol Monroe, Jeff Michalczyk, Mark Murphy, Rob Perry, Jeff Schebler, Caroline Schrenker, Jay Sebben, Bob Thomas, Wolfe Tone, Todd Wilkins, Gary Zauner and Rob Zvonar. There are 10 former college or NFL place-kickers on the Selection Committee, including Schebler (the inaugural Fred Mitchell Award recipient in 2009 and the highest-scoring place-kicker in NCAA history at any level) and Lynch (two-time recipient of the Award and the kicker on the 2011 NAIA National Champion Saint Xavier University Cougars).