SIOUX CITY -- Morningside College's Beau Kildow headlines the 2009 ESPN The Magazine College Division Academic All-America Football Team as selected by College Sports Information Directors of America.

Along with being a first-team Academic All-American, Kildow was chosen as the winner of the 2009 Academic All-America of the Year award for the College Division. University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner, received the Academic All-America of the Year award for the University Division.

Kildow has a 4.00 cumulative grade point average with majors in chemistry and biology and minors in physics and mathematics. He is one of 16 national finalists for the William V. Campbell Trophy, presented to the best football scholar-athlete in the nation. Kildow and the other finalists will be recognized on Dec. 8 at a banquet to be held in the Waldorf=Astoria Hotel in New York City. Kildow was a Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete in 2007 and 2008 and is nominated to receive the honor again this year.

Aside from being a 4.00 student in the classroom, Kildow is also an All-American on the playing field and a major reason why Morningside has a 10-1 record and is ranked seventh in the nation in the NAIA. The Mustangs will face the University of Sioux Falls in this Saturday's NAIA Championship Series Quarterfinals.

"It has been a great honor to coach Beau Kildow," said Morningside head football coach Steve Ryan. "He is an amazing leader and person. His competitive spirit and integrity fuel him to succeed at whatever he sets his mind to accomplish."

Kildow is the Mustangs' leading pass receiver with 77 catches for 1,375 yards and 12 touchdowns and ranks third nationally with an average of 125.0 reception yards per game. He tied Morningside's single-game pass reception yardage record earlier this season when he caught 10 passes for 287 yards and three touchdowns in the Mustangs' 56-21 win against Dakota Wesleyan University in the season opener. Kildow is also a standout kick returner and leads the Mustangs with averages of 25.4 yards per kickoff return and 12.6 yards per punt return. He ranks third nationally with an average of 182.9 all-purpose yards per game.

Kildow received the Offensive Player of the Game award after he helped lead Morningside to a 24-6 victory against No. 11 Missouri Valley College in this past Saturday's first round action in the NAIA Championship Series. Kildow scored the Mustangs' first touchdown when he returned a punt 84 yards for the longest punt return in Morningside history. He also caught eight passes for 143 yards for the 11th 100-yard game of his Morningside career, including his third in a row.

He is one of the leading receivers in Morningside history with career totals of 209 catches for school-record totals of 3,269 yards and 34 touchdowns. Kildow is 10 catches shy of the Morningside record of 219 career receptions set by Kyle Ortegren from 2002-05. Kildow is also Morningside's all-time leader with 36 career touchdowns.

Aside from his pass catching exploits, Kildow is one of the top kick return specialists in Morningside history. He has 85 punt returns for 1,025 yards for an average of 12.1 yards per return and 48 kickoff returns for a school-record 1,167 yards for an average of 24.3 yards per return. Kildow is 37 yards shy of the Mustangs' record of 1,062 career punt return yards set by Cody Jaminet from 2003-06. Kildow is on pace to break the Morningside career records of 10.0 yards per punt return by Mitch Allner from 1996-99 and 22.5 yards per kickoff return by Nate Cole from 1983-85.

Kildow was a first-team College Fanz Sports Network All-American in 2008 when he caught 64 passes for 977 yards and 14 touchdowns. He was a Victory Sports Network honorable mention All-American in 2007 when he caught 65 passes for 864 yards and seven touchdowns.

Student-athletes must be of at least sophomore athletic and academic status, be a starter or important reserve with legitimate athletic credentials, and have a minimum GPA of 3.30 to be eligible for ESPN The Magazine Academic honors.