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University of Minnesota Athletics
BURNS AND GRUENING NAMED TO ALL-DISTRICT V ACADEMIC TEAM
11/9/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
VerizUniversity of Minnesota football players Derek Burns and Preston Gruening were both named to the Verizon 2000 All-District V Academic Team. Burns, a junior offensive guard, has played a big role in the veteran front line, and is a reason the Golden Gophers have had so much success on the ground this season. Burns is a marketing major and is a three-time scholar-athlete winner. The 1999 Academic All-Big Ten winner is credited with 89 pancake blocks in his career, and 58 this season.
Gruening was a unanimous selection at the punter position. The sophomore phenom has led the nation in punting every week of the 2000 season. He currently leads all punters with a 46.4 average and has a career long of 65 yards. Gruening is a semi-finalist for the Ray Guy Award, which is given to the nation's top punter. He was also a member of the Academic All-Big Ten team last season and is a two-time scholar-athlete. Gruening plans to major in finance from the prestigious Carlson School of Management.
Burns and Gruening are two of eight representatives form the Big Ten Conference and are finalists for Academic All-America honors.
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