IRVING, TX- Three members of the Juniata football team recently earned membership to the National Football Foundation (NFF) Hampshire Honor Society.  The organization recognizes football student-athletes from every division who have maintained a 3.2 cumulative GPA while being a starter in their last year of eligibility.

Seniors Ward Udinski (Doylestown, PA/Central Bucks West), Ethan Wilt (Altoona, PA/Altoona Area), and Coleman Rigg (Bellefonte, PA/Bellefonte) have excelled not only in the classroom but on the gridiron to earn the honor. A total of 817 players from 278 schools qualified for membership in the society's ninth year, setting a new record for the number of schools represented in the history of the program, which began in 2007. 

The initiative has honored 5,744 student-athletes since its inception, and the program has experienced growth every year in either members or school participation since its launch. The 278 schools represented this year is a new high water mark, eclipsing the 267 schools in 2014. The 817 players in the 2015 class is the second-most in the program's history, only 21 behind the 838 honored last year.