SPOKANE, Wash. -- Whitworth University has four players, including one repeat winner, named to the 2008 ESPN The Magazine CoSIDA Academic All-District VIII College Division football team, which was published yesterday.

Travis Niles (So., DE, Spokane, Wash. - Mt. Spokane), Dan Sanders (Sr., OL, Valleyford, Wash. - Freeman) McLane Stone (Sr., DB, Orcas Island, Wash. - Orcas Island) and Emilio Sulpizio (So., OL, Spokane, Wash. - Mead) are part of the 27-player team. Sanders is a repeat winner from 2007.

Travis Niles	Dan Sanders	McLane Stone	Emilio Sulpizio

Niles is a theology major with a 4.00 grade point average. He has 23 tackles this season, including three for losses of 19 yards. He has also forced a fumble.

Stone is also a theology major with a 3.90 GPA. He has 19 tackles with two interceptions, one of which sealed the win at Chapman and the other he returned 92 yards for a touchdown at Linfield.

Sulpizio and Sanders both play on an offensive line that has helped the Pirates rush for 209 yards per game and 4.3 yards per run this season. The Bucs have averaged more than 29 points per game. Sulpizio is a biology major with a 4.00 GPA, while Sanders is a computer science and math major with a 3.94 GPA.

This group has helped lead the Pirates to a 5-3 record and a 3-2 mark in the Northwest Conference, pending the season finale against Lewis & Clark on Saturday.

The Academic All-District VIII teams are selected from NCAA Division II, Division III and NAIA players throughout the western United States. The players are nominated and selected by members of CoSIDA. To be eligible for nomination, a player must be a starter or important reserve with a 3.30 cumulative grade point average and of sophomore standing.

All four players are now candidates for CoSIDA's College Division Academic All-America football team.

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