Football's Hilliard, Barkley get NCAA awards

March 10, 2003
St. Thomas had two NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship winners --
seniors Jake Barkley and Andrew Hilliard -- for fall 2003 out of an elite group of 58 national student-athlete honorees. There were 29 men and 29 women honored from Divisions I, II and III.

St. Thomas was the lone Minnesota institution to have a fall award winner.

Barkley and Hilliard will each receive a $6,900 annual stipend for graduate studies.

Barkley (SR-Plymouth/Robbinsdale Armstrong) has a 3.90 gpa in Entrepreneurship, while Hilliard (SR-Woodbury) has a 3.987 gpa in Math. Both were repeat first-team Verizon Academic All-Americans in football. Barkley was the first Tommie to make first-team Academic All-American three times.

Hilliard becomes St. Thomas' first four-time Academic All-American -- he's previously been honored twice for track and field and in 2001 for football.

Barkley broke a 25-year-old conference career rushing record in the Nov. 8 season-ending loss to Concordia. He rushed 23 times for 142 yards and finished his career with 3,969 yards. He broke the MIAC record of 3,933 yards set from 1974-77 by St. John's Tim Schmitz. Barkley also had 33 career touchdowns; 4,644 all-purpose yards; and had 20 games of 100 or more rushing yards. Barkley's senior season was marred by a groin injury, or he easily would have surpassed 4,000 yards. He played parts of seven games but only played five full games on the Tommies' 10-game schedule. In the five games in which he was relatively healthy, he gained 786 yards and scored 12 TDs. He finished with 834 rushing yards on the season.

Hilliard was one of six college student-athletes who received the 2003 Woody Hayes National Scholar-Athlete Award.

As sprinter/400 hurdler in track and field, he's a four-time NCAA Division III All-American (4x400/4x100) and a member of both the indoor and outdoor conference record-holding 4x400 relay teams. He's contributed to 12 victories (relays and hurdles) at conference indoor/outdoor meets in three seasons, and helped the Tommies win all seven team championships.

In football, Hilliard started 38 of 40 career football gamees, missing only two with injuries, and twice was voted All-MIAC. In 38 career games he had 147 receptions for 2,547 yards (17.3 ypc) with 23 touchdowns. He finished second on UST's career receiving yards list. He helped the Tommies win 25 of 35 conference games in his era. Despite being slowed by injuries in 2002, Hilliard had 989 yards in total offense and six touchdowns. He had an 88-yard kickoff return for TD vs. No. 6 St. John's, and had a 38-yard reverse for TD vs. Gustavus.

Among his other previous honors:
--Hilliard traveled to New York in December as one of 14 college football recipients of the National Scholar-Athlete Award. That award, presented by the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame, includes an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship. Hilliard was the second MIAC honoree in the 43-year history of the award -- joining Chirs Palmer of St. John's, a 1995 recipient.

--Hilliard also was among 10 finalists for the 2002 Galiardi Trophy, honoring the NCAA Division III Football Player of the Year

--Hilliard is a four-time Verizon Academic All-American, twice in football and twice in track and field.

--Hilliard also was named to the American Football Coaches' Association (AFCA) "Good Works Team" for exceptional community service. Only three Division III players in the nation were recognized. It's the fifth year in a row that St. Thomas has had a player on the Good Works team. His service work includes weightlifting coach for a Special Olympics team; volunteer for National Youth Sports Program (NYSP) as youth coach; volunteer for Beaver Lake Church Vacation Bible School, in charge of recreational activities (summer 2002); volunteer for hometown Woodbury Athletic Association at track, football camps; volunteer for Habitat for Humanity -- helped on homebuilding projects in St. Paul's Frogtown neighborhood; volunteer for Loaves & Fishes Foodshelf; volunteer at neighborhood cleanup day in St. Paul; volunteer at annual on-campus Faculty/Staff Family Christmas party (last four years); volunteer at Bailey Elementary School P.E. classes; and member campus Fellowship of Christian Athletes (three years).