Thiry Named Gagliardi Trophy Finalist

Nov 22, 2011

Northland Sports Online

DULUTH, Minn. – St. Scholastica senior quarterback Alex Thiry (Cambridge, Minn./Braham HS (Minn.-Duluth)) has been named a finalist for the 2011 Gagliardi Trophy; it was announced on Tuesday.

The Gagliardi Trophy was first presented in 1993. Since that time, the award has become one of the leading collegiate football awards and is widely recognized as the premier individual award in Division III football, honoring excellence in athletics, academics and community service.

The trophy is named after long-time Saint John’s University head coach John Gagliardi. It is presented annually to the outstanding football player in NCAA Division III football by Jostens, Inc. and the J-Club of Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minn.

Thiry had one of the most-efficient seasons by a quarterback in all of college football. He threw 37 touchdowns, compared to just three interceptions for a 218.1 efficiency rating. After an undefeated regular season, Thiry had the best efficiency rating for a season in college football history at any level. However, a driving snow storm and a stout University of St. Thomas defense dropped Thiry below the record after the NCAA first round playoff game.

Thiry had 2,608 yards on 160-of-227 passing for the season. In five games, Thiry threw as many if not more touchdown passes than incompletions and in each of those games he had at least 16 pass attempts.

For his efforts, Thiry was named the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Offensive Player of the Year and was also named to the conference’s all-sportsmanship team.

Nominations for the award are made by the college president with supporting letters and credentials provided by the head football coach. After screening the nominations, the SJU J-Club Board of Directors narrows the field to 10 finalists. The 35-member Gagliardi Trophy national selection committee reviews the credentials, ranks the candidates 1-10 and casts their votes. Fans will also have an opportunity to vote for their favorite finalist on D3football.com. Four finalists will be announced on December 6th.

The trophy will be presented in Salem, Va., site of the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, on Wednesday, Dec. 14, two evenings prior to the Division III national championship game. For the first time in the award’s history, all four finalists will be on hand for the announcement and presentation.

The 10 Finalists for Gagliardi Trophy:

Matt Blanchard, UW-Whitewater senior QB

Peter Bulandr, North Central College (Ill.) senior DT

Alex Ferrara, University of Mount Union (Ohio) senior S

Chris Haupt, Widener University (Pa.) junior QB

Dan Pitcher, SUNY-Cortland (N.Y.) grad student QB

Alex Tanney, Monmouth College (Ill.) senior QB

Alex Thiry (Cambridge, Minn. /Braham HS (Minn.-Duluth)), College of St. Scholastica (Minn.) senior QB

Hewitt Tomlin, Johns Hopkins University (Md.) senior QB

Fritz Waldvogel, University of St. Thomas (Minn.) senior WR/KR

Michael Zweifel, University of Dubuque (Iowa), senior WR