Catching footballs and keeping opposing ball carriers in check isn't all that Jason Balts and Nick Thorpe have excelled at during their time at the University of Minnesota Duluth.

Today, the two Bulldogs earned a spot on the 24-member CoSIDA Academic All-Super Region 4 team, which was voted on by the College Sports Information Directors of America. Super Region 4 includes all NCAA Division II institutions from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, Lone Star Conference, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

Balts, a junior wide receiver from Barron, Wis., maintains a 3.99 cumulative grade point average as a physical education major.  He closed out the 2017 regular season ranking third in the NSIC  in pass receiving yards (81.2 yards per game) and was fourth in all-purpose yards (117.2 ypg). Balts, who earlier this week was bestowed with the 2017 NSIC Elite 18 Award for football (presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating on an NSIC championship team), also has equaled a career-high for pass receptions this fall with 51. Thorpe, who like Balts was a 2017 All-NSIC first team selection, has had a hand in 20 total tackles while working out of the defensive end position. The Cold Spring, Minn., product is majoring in mechanical engineering at UMD and has compiled a 3.72 GPA.

Balts' and Thorpe's names will now appear on the national ballot as they seek to become the school's seventh and eighth football CoSIDA Academic All-American. Offensive guard/center Andrew Pattock attained that distinction four years ago.