BAY CITY, Mich. – Two Roosevelt student-athletes were honored with second-team all-conference honors from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, the league announced Friday.
Senior Norion Espadron was named a second-team wide receiver and freshman punter Eoin O'Sullivan was honored for his kicking. In addition to those two, the Lakers had five players named to the All-GLIAC honorable mention team – graduate student safety Carlos Conley, senior running back Cam Davis, senior receiver Norbert Espadron, junior linebacker Brandon Harvey and junior center Maxwell Lingenfelser.
After showing glimpses of his game-breaking potential last season, Norion Espadron was a gamechanger this season for the Lakers. The Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. native led the GLIAC in receiving yards and ranked second in catches as a major part of the league's top-ranked passing offense. He closed the season on a tear with three 100-yard performances in the final five games while eclipsing 70 yards in all of those contests.
In addition to his role on offense, Espadron was a special teams asset by averaging 19 yards per kick return on 19 attempts this season.
"Norion had an outstanding year," Roosevelt head coach Billy McKeon said. "He's the kind of player you coach something once and he immediately masters it. He produced an explosive play in all 10 games this season – whether as a receiver or in the return game. I couldn't be more proud of Norion, the season he had, and the person he is. He may have been smaller than many of the defenders he faced, but it was a non-factor. He was a highly effective blocker, incredibly unselfish, and consistently put the team first. I'm very happy for Norion and believe he was fully deserving of first-team recognition."
Equally as impactful, O'Sullivan put together the best season for a Roosevelt punter in program history as a freshman. The Irishman averaged a program-record 43.46 yards per kick this year with nine punts of at least 50 yards and a quarter of his 41 punts being downed inside the 20. He had just two touchbacks the entire season and forced 14 fair catches in addition to several muffs from opposing returners.
O'Sullivan also recorded arguably the best punting day in Roosevelt history against Saginaw Valley State on Oct. 12. He averaged a program-record 51.6 yards per punt with two punts of at least 60 yards among his five kicks. The native of Cork County in Ireland unleashed a 64-yard punt that produced one of his two touchbacks then uncorked a 60-yard kick inside the Saginaw Valley State 10-yard line.
"Eoin was must-watch all season," McKeon said. "It was fun seeing opposing coaches stop and watch in amazement as he warmed up before games. He has tremendous power in his leg, and he impacted our kicking game in a significant way this year. The wild part is that this was Eoin's first year of organized football. Coming from Ireland, he's only been training as an American football specialist for a short time. Having him as part of our team this season was truly a joy."
Conley is an All-GLIAC honorable mention pick for a second straight year, wrapping up his Roosevelt career in style. He had 52 tackles this season and broke up three passes, including one that led to a Keron Pryor interception against Wayne State. The Plainfield, Ill. native had two picks of his own against the Warriors, returning the first one 45 yards to the end zone for his second career touchdown.
Davis became a threat for opponents as a receiver out of the backfield late in the season after finding success on the ground early in the year. He ran for 126 yards and a touchdown in the season-opening win against Quincy then scored again the next week against Southwest Baptist. Although he ran for just one touchdown the rest of the season, the Dallas, Texas native caught a pair of touchdown passes and finished with 689 yards from scrimmage on 203 combined touches.
Harvey finished the season as Roosevelt's leading tackler with 72 stops, including 1.5 tackles for loss. He made a pair of big plays for the Lakers this season, rushing for 30 yards on a fake punt against Northern Michigan. The Champaign, Ill. native also returned his only interception of the season 31 yards for a touchdown against Wayne State.
Norbert Espadron was also a big-play threat for the Lakers alongside his brother, finishing second on the team and ninth in the GLIAC with 436 receiving yards. He had a stretch of three straight games with a receiving touchdown late in the season, including a 53-yard catch and run against Michigan Tech. A native of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., Espadron caught a career-best seven passes for 80 yards in the win over Wayne State.
Roosevelt's final honoree, Lingenfelser continued his strong play on the offensive line while starting all 10 games for the Lakers at center. He dealt with three different quarterbacks who took snaps this season and continued to keep his poise under pressure in the middle. The junior from Gurnee, Ill. has played 19 career games for the Lakers on the offensive line.
