Kurtz, Taele named to CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team

PROVO, Utah – BYU football seniors Nick Kurtz and Logan Taele were both named to the 2016 CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team announced on Thursday.

The 2016 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District Football Teams have been released to recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom.

Wide receiver Kurtz, a business major from El Cajon, Calif., currently has 30 receptions for 310 yards with a touchdown for BYU while earning a 3.43 GPA. A transfer from Grossmont College, Kurtz has led the receiving core in 2016 in receptions and yards. His touchdown came against UCLA on a 23-yard pass in the end zone.

Defensive lineman Taele, a finance major from Columbus, Ohio, has totaled 28 tackles with 15 solo stops, four tackles for loss for 11 yards and 0.5 sacks for 2 yards, all while maintaining a 3.31 GPA. Taele has notched six total tackles twice this season, the first at Utah and the second against Toledo.

This is the fifth year of the expanded Academic All-America® program as CoSIDA moved from recognizing a University Division (Division I) and a College Division (all non-Division I) and has doubled the number of scholar-athletes honored. The expanded teams include NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III participants, while the College Division Academic All-America® Team combines NAIA, Canadian and two-year schools. 

First-team Academic All-District honorees advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Team ballot, where first-, second- and third-team All-America honorees will be selected later this month. 

For more information about the Academic All-District™ and Academic All-America® Teams program, please visit www.cosida.com.

See the All-District Teams