WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- Senior Akoakoa Paleka-Kennedy raised the bar of success even higher for the traditional strong Midwestern State offensive Wednesday earning the Rimington Award as the top center in NCAA Division II.
 
The Hilo, Hawaii native joins former teammate Marqui Christian as the lone Mustangs to earn top national honors. Christian, a fifth-round selection in the 2016 NFL Draft, competes with the Los Angeles Rams after winning the Cliff Harris Award as the nation's top small college defensive player in 2015.
 
Kennedy became the fourth MSU player to earn American Football Coaches' Association All-America honors earlier this month as a second-team selection joining former two-time honoree Amini Silatolu (2010, 2011), was taken in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers, standout running back Keidrick Jackson (2013) and Christian (2015).
 
Also a second-team D2SIDA/D2CCA All-Super Region Four pick, Kennedy earned first-team All-Lone Star Conference accolades last month while continuing MSU's "O-Line Pride" tradition by producing the sixth league offensive lineman of the year over the past seven seasons joining former All-American Amini Silatolu (2010, 2011), Ken Van Heule (2012), Shadow Stokes (2014) and Alfredo Moreno (2015).
 
Kennedy led an offensive line unit that paved the way for the second-best running attack in the LSC while ranking 37th nationally at 196.1 yards per game. He headed a unit that allowed 5.10 tackles for loss per game -- second in the LSC, 38th in NCAA II -- and 11 total sacks this season.
 
He becomes the fifth player from the Lone Star Conference to claim the Rimington Award joining Texas A&M-Kingsville's Kevin Palmer (2003) and Southeastern Oklahoma's Kevin Burton (2004) as well as Abilene Christian's Sam Collins (2008) and Matt Webber (2011).
 
Other winners of the Rimington Award this season including Illinois State's Mark Spelman from the FCS level, Mount Union's Mitch Doraty of NCAA Division III and Saint Francis (Ind.)'s Brian Gegner of the NAIA.
 
Ohio State's Pat Elflein claimed the Rimington Trophy which is presented to the top center at the Bowl Championship Subdivision.
 
ABOUT THE RIMINGTON TROPHY
 
The Rimington Trophy is presented annually to the Most Outstanding Center in NCAA Division I-A College Football. Since its inception, the sixteen-year old award has raised over $2.75 million for the Boomer Esiason Foundation, which is committed to finding a cure for cystic fibrosis and has raised over $120 million for CF Research. Dave Rimington, the award's namesake, was a consensus first-team All-America center at the University of Nebraska in 1981 and 1982, during which time he became the John Outland Trophy's only two-time winner as the nation's finest college interior lineman. For more on the Rimington Trophy and a list of past recipients, visit www.rimingtontrophy.com
 
ABOUT THE BOOMER ESIASON FOUNDATION
 
BEF supports the cystic fibrosis community through scholarship grants, transplant grants, exercise programs, and educational programs as well as funding CF research. To date, BEF has raised over $120 million. Please visit Esiason.org to learn more about our programs, teamboomer.org to join the team, and follow us at facebook.com/BoomerEsiasonFoundation and on Twitter @cysticfibrosis.
 
ABOUT CYSTIC FIBROSIS
 
Cystic Fibrosis is a rare, inherited, chronic disease that affects the lungs, digestive system, and reproductive system of about 30,000 Americans by causing a thick build-up of mucus that leads to blockage, inflammation, and infection.
 
NCAA DIVISION II RIMINGTON AWARD WINNERS
2003 -- Kevin Palmer, Texas A&M-Kingsville
2004 -- Kevin Burton, Southeastern Oklahoma
2005 -- Lance Ancar, North Alabama
2006 -- Christian Morgon, South Dakota
2007 -- Ryan Pope, Shepherd (W. Va.)
2008 -- Sam Collins, Abilene Christian
2009 -- Jack Hiett, Nebraska-Kearney
2010 -- Brandon Fusco, Slippery Rock (Pa.)
2011 -- Matt Webber, Abilene Christian and Darrell Leopold, Delta State (Miss.)
2012 -- Kevin Day, Carson-Newman (Tenn.)
2013 -- Matt Armstrong, Grand Valley State (Mich.)
2014 -- Jack Abercrombie, California (Pa.)
2015 -- Derek Evans, Carson-Newman (Tenn.)
2016 -- Akoakoa Paleka-Kennedy, Midwestern State