Derek Crittenden, a Whitefish native and defensive end at the University of Montana, was named to the 2014 Capital One Academic All-America Division I football second team.
Crittenden is a chemistry major and maintains a perfect 4.0 GPA at UM. He has played in all 13 games for the 9-4 Grizzlies this season, and has the 12th (tie) most tackles on the team with 29.
Crittenden is also tied for second on the team with two fumble recoveries, and has 4.5 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, and a forced fumble. He has played in 37 career games.
The past two seasons, Crittenden, a 2015 Rhodes Scholar candidate, was named to Co-SIDA’s Division I all-district academic first team. He has been named to the All-Big Sky Conference academic squad the previous two years as well.
The minimum GPA to qualify to make the elite academic team is 3.30, and 19 of the 50 members of the 2014 Capital One Academic All-America NCAA Division I football teams have at least a 3.90 G.P.A., with four student-athletes sporting a perfect 4.0 G.P.A. , including of course Crittenden. The 24 members of the first-team have an average G.P.A. of 3.85.