Nov. 9, 2006
WACO, Texas -- Baylor senior punter Daniel Sepulveda was named first-team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VI, the publication announced Thursday in conjunction with the College Sports Information Directors of America. This is the third consecutive season in which Sepulveda has earned academic all-district honors, the second straight in which he has been a first-team honoree.
Student-athletes are nominated for Academic All-America by their respective athletic media relations and sports information departments and must maintain a cumulative 3.2 GPA to be eligible. All-district teams are then chosen by a vote of CoSIDA members within each district. First-team all-district honorees become eligible for Academic All-America honors, handed out Nov. 30.
Sepulveda, a senior accounting major at Baylor, currently ranks second nationally in punting with an average of 46.79 yards per punt, best nationally among punters with at least 4.0 punts per game. Thanks to Sepulveda's punts, opponents have started no better than their own 20 yard line on 54 percent of Sepulveda's punts this season (31 of 57), including 23 punts inside the 20 (40 percent) and eight inside the 10 (14 percent). He has recorded 22 punts of 50-plus yards this season, seven of 60-plus yards and a career-long tying 78-yarder against Kansas State. Baylor ranks sixth nationally in net punting at 38.97 yards per punt.
In 44 career games, Sepulveda has logged 268 career punts for 12,130 yards, an average of 45.26 yards per punt, all Baylor records. He is on pace to break former Texas A&M punter Shane Lechler's NCAA Division I-A record for yards per punt with at least 250 career punts (44.69, 1996-99). Sepulveda already owns the NCAA record for most career punts of 50-plus yards (91; previous mark was 88).
Sepulveda, the 2004 Ray Guy Award winner as the nation's best punter, is a Guy Award semifinalist again this season.
Baylor returns to action Saturday, traveling to Stillwater, Okla., to face Oklahoma State. Kickoff between the Bears and the Cowboys is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. CST at Boone Pickens Stadium. The game will be televised live on Fox Sports Net.
