READING, Pa. - On Wednesday, senior place kicker John Whelan was named to the Watch List for the Fred Mitchell Award. This list includes the names of 40 Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), Division II, III and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) collegiate place-kickers that were nominated by their colleges for excellence on the football field and in the community. 

The Award’s Selection Committee Chairman Chris Kearney said, “These place-kickers are terrific on the football field and off the field representing their schools, their football teams, their conferences, their communities, their families and themselves. We look forward to following their accomplishments during the next few months.”

The Watch List includes place-kickers from more than 600 eligible colleges. Fred Mitchell said, “It is a pleasure to include these fine young men on the Watch List for this Award. We are delighted to recognize them based on outstanding performance in the community and expectations going into the 2010 college football season.”

The breakdown of the 40 place-kickers is as follows:
• Collegiate Division – 15 FCS, 8 Division II, 12 Division III and 5 NAIA
• State – the place-kickers play at schools located in 24 different states led by Pennsylvania (8 place-kickers), no other state has more than 3 place-kickers on the Watch List
• Year – 21 Seniors, 14 Juniors, 5 Sophomores
• Fred Mitchell Award Finalists in 2009 that are on the 2010 Watch List - 12