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smallcollegefbfan
November 19th, 2007, 08:12 PM
http://www.ivyleaguesports.com/article.asp?intID=6301

A healthy Mike McLeod could not be stopped... and even a broken big toe midway through the season could barely slow him down. Today the Ivy League football coaches unanimously selected the Yale junior running back from New Britain, Conn., as the 2007 Ivy League Player of the Year after he ran his way to 1,619 yards and 23 touchdowns for the once-beaten Bulldogs.

McLeod had scored touchdowns in 18 straight games before Saturday's loss to Harvard, also the only team to keep him below 100 rushing yards in the last 19 games. McLeod now holds Yale career, season and game records for rushing yards and is on pace to break a number of Ivy League records in 2008.

While McLeod's Yale Bulldogs had five All-Ivy first-teamers as selected by the eight coaches, the champion Harvard Crimson led the way with 11 first-team picks, including senior quarterback Chris Pizzotti, who closed out Harvard's perfect Ivy season with a 316-yard, four-touchdown performance at Yale Bowl on Saturday. He finished the season with 14 TD throws and just four interceptions. Harvard's 11 first-teamers is the second-most in Ivy League history, topped only by Penn's 2003 squad which produced 12.

Harvard's six defenders — led by unanimous choices Brad Bagdis of the line and Steven Williams of the secondary — matches the most ever by an Ivy defense (Cornell, 1986). McLeod, Bagdis and Williams, the nation's leader in pass breakups, were the only unanimous selections.

Columbia freshman linebacker Alex Gross was named the Ivy Rookie of the Year, the second straight Lion to earn the honor. Gross led the Lions with 80 stops in 2007. Last year's Rookie recipient, Austin Knowlin, was named to the first-team this season after falling just 12 yards shy of the Columbia single-season receiving yardage record.

Harvard's 11 included Pizzotti, Bagdis and Steven Williams as well as senior wide receiver Corey Mazza, offensive linemen Andrew Brecher, David Paine and James Williams (the only sophomore picked on the first-team line on either side of the ball), junior defensive lineman Matt Curtis, junior linebacker Glenn Dorris, junior defensive back Andrew Berry and senior defensive back Doug Hewlett.

Runnerup Yale had four players joining McLeod on the first team — tight end Langston Johnson, offensive lineman Jeff Monaco, defensive lineman Brandt Hollander and junior linebacker Bobby Abare.

Brown had a pair of first-teamers in sophomore wide receiver Buddy Farnham and senior kicker Steve Morgan, who now holds the Ivy career records for both field goals (52) and kicking points (290).

Penn had four first-team picks — seniors Joe Sandberg, Brian Brazinski and Naheem Harris along with sophomore Chris Wynn. Sandberg rushed for nearly 800 yards despite sitting out more than half of the quarters with injury this season while Wynn was the lone sophomore on the first-team defense.

Dartmouth had a single player on the first team in senior linebacker Justin Cottrell, who led the Ivies with 108 tackles.

Cornell did not have players on the first team, but a pair of juniors — offensive lineman Steve Valenta and defensive back Tim Bax — were named to the second team.

FIRST TEAM OFFENSE [*unanimous]
WR -- Buddy Farnham, Brown (Soph., Andover, Mass.)
WR -- Corey Mazza, Harvard (Sr., Thousand Oaks, Calif.)
WR -- Austin Knowlin, Columbia (Soph., Newington, Conn.)
TE -- Langston Johnson, Yale (Sr., Los Altos, Calif.)
OL -- Jeff Monaco, Yale (Sr., McDonald, Pa.)
OL -- Andrew Brecher, Harvard (Sr., Needham, Mass.)
OL -- Brian Brazinski, Penn (Sr., Basking Ridge, N.J.)
OL -- David Paine, Harvard (Sr., South Attleboro, Mass.)
OL -- James Williams, Harvard (Soph., Chestnut Hill, Mass.)
QB -- Chris Pizzotti, Harvard (Sr., Reading, Mass.)
RB -- *Mike McLeod, Yale (Jr., New Britain, Conn.)
RB -- Joe Sandberg, Penn (Sr., Oradell, N.J.)
K -- Steve Morgan, Brown (Sr., New Albany, Ohio)

FIRST TEAM DEFENSE [*unanimous]
DL -- *Brad Bagdis, Harvard (Sr., Paxton, Mass.)
DL -- Naheem Harris, Penn (Sr., Brooklyn, N.Y.)
DL -- Matt Curtis, Harvard (Jr., Peabody, Mass.)
DL -- Brandt Hollander, Yale (Sr., Indianapolis, Ind.)
LB -- Bobby Abare, Yale (Jr., Acton, Mass.)
LB -- Glenn Dorris, Harvard (Jr., Marietta, Ga.)
LB -- Justin Cottrell, Dartmouth (Sr., Somers Point, N.J.)
LB -- Tim Boardman, Princeton (Sr., Staten Island, N.Y.)
DB -- *Steven Williams, Harvard (Sr., San Antonio, Texas)
DB -- Andrew Berry, Harvard (Jr., Bel Air, Md.)
DB -- Chris Wynn, Penn (Soph., Flemington, N.J.)
DB -- Doug Hewlett, Harvard (Sr., Wellington, Fla.)
P -- Ryan Coyle, Princeton (Jr., Princeton, N.J.)

PLAYER OF THE YEAR [*unanimous]
*Mike McLeod, Yale (RB, Jr., New Britain, Conn.)

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Alex Gross, Columbia (LB, Fr., Kettering, Ohio)

YaleFootballFan
November 20th, 2007, 07:25 AM
Mike McLeod is the first Yale player to named the Ivy League's MVP since Kelly Ryan won it in 1987. Yale has won the award eight times, which is more than any other Ivy team.

Congratulations Mike! xthumbsupx

Ivytalk
November 20th, 2007, 08:12 AM
I'm happy for McLeod, a deserving MVP winner, but I'm even happier for Harvard's 11 first-teamers! xhurrayx xhurrayx