Date: Thursday, January 9, 2003

ZUPANCIC FINISHES TUFTS FOOTBALL CAREER AS AN ALL-AMERICAN
Major post-season honors also heaped upon lineman Adam Collette

MEDFORD – After a season during which he shattered the Tufts University Football program's all-time record for interceptions and was a national leader in passes defended, senior cornerback Evan Zupancic (Lake Oswego, OR/Lakeridge) was named a Division III All-American by two organizations recently. The Hewlett Packard Division III All-America Team, the most prestigious of three All-America teams named each year, selected Zupancic to its Third Team. D3football.com put Zupancic on its Second Team. The honors capped a tremendous career for the four-year starter.

Zupancic and senior offensive tackle Adam Collette (Westminster, MA/Oakmont) were also included on the final All-Region teams named in December. Zupancic was picked to Don Hansen's Football Gazette All-East First Team Defense, while Collette was on the Third Team Offense. The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Northeast All-Stars included both Zupancic and Collette on the First Team.

As of the December 14 NCAA Statistics, Zupancic was in a three-way tie for seventh place nationally with 0.9 interceptions per game. He finished the season with seven in eight games. Add that to his 12 pass break-ups and Zupancic's 19 total passes defended in the games is a 2.4 per game average that ranked sixth nationally in the latest statistics. The tri-captain finished his career with 20 interceptions, breaking Tufts' previous all-time mark of 15 set by Scott Burnham from 1979-82. Zupancic also played for the offense at wide receiver, catching four balls for 51 yards, and returned a few punts and kickoffs, as well. He finished with 37 tackles.

Collette, who was also named an Honorable Mention All-American by D3football.com, is a 6'8", 290-pound monster on the line. He was selected to play for a team of U.S. Division III All-Stars in the 2002 Aztec Bowl on December 14 in Torreon, Mexico. He was one of three New England players on the team. Collette did not allow a sack this season and was the leader of a line that helped the offense scoring 20.1 points per game, including 12 passing touchdowns that were the most at Tufts since 1982.

Earlier in the post-season, Zupancic and Collette had both earned All-New England Small College Athletic Conference First Team honors. Zupancic was also selected to the New England Football Writers' Divisions II-III team.

Tufts finished a disappointing 3-5. After winning their first three games, including the first two by shutout, they lost tight contests to league leaders Trinity, Williams and Amherst. Late losses to Colby and Middlebury prevented a winning season.

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