51³Ô¹ÏÍø

Raiders wide receiver Chris Looney ’13 catches recognition for academic prowess

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wide receiver Chris Looney

Wide receiver Chris Looney ’13 has a 3.90 GPA and is majoring in international relations and history.

51³Ô¹ÏÍø wide receiver Chris Looney capped an amazing senior season by being named to the 2012 Capital One Academic All-America Division I Football Team.

Looney was selected for first-team honors by the College Sports Information Directors of America. It is 51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s first Academic All-America recipient since John Frieser in 2003.

Looney, like Frieser in his senior year, also was named Patriot League Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Last month, Looney was named to the Capital One Academic All-District I Team.

An and major with a 3.90 grade-point average, Looney led the Raiders to a 8-4 record and the Patriot League championship. He earned All-Patriot League second-team honors after leading 51³Ô¹ÏÍø in all three receiving categories — 43 receptions, 776 yards, and six touchdowns.

Looney was joined on the Academic All-America first team at wide receiver by Liberty’s Pat Kelly. The second-team wideouts were Montana State’s Tanner Bleskin and Central Michigan’s Cody Wilson.

Alabama offensive lineman Barrett Jones was named 2012 Capital One Academic All-America of the Year.

Looney, a Verona, N.J., native, has received the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø Dean’s Award for Excellence and been placed on the school’s Athletics Honor Roll four times apiece. He is a Charles A. Dana Scholar for “superior achievement as well as demonstrated leadership in the college community.â€

He also has done plenty of work off the field in his time in Hamilton.

Looney has been part of the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø Leadership Academy for three years and is an executive board member for Uplifting Athletes, helping to raise more than $15,000 for ependymoma research. He also participated in events for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, breast cancer research,  and served as a mentor for fifth-grade students on the dangers of drugs and alcohol.