Gronewold earns "Player of the Week" laurels after record-setting day

Ashton Gronewold

Ashton Gronewold put his name in the NCAA record books again Saturday and in the process earned his third "Offensive Player of the Week" award from the Great Lakes Football Conference for the 2007 season.

The senior wide receiver established a new school record with 357 all-purpose yards in the Miners' 73-30 loss at Tiffin and also made the NCAA record books in two categories along the way. Gronewold accumulated a NCAA Division II record 295 yards in kickoff returns which included two runbacks for touchdowns.

The returns that covered 90 and 94 yards made him the seventh player in Division II history to return two kickoffs for scores in the same game and the first to do so since Southern Arkansas' Jordan Babineaux in a 2003 game against Delta State.

Gronewold also had five receptions for 64 yards in the game as he moved his 2007 total for all-purpose yards past the 2,000 mark. His career total now stands at 5,830 yards heading into UMR's season finale Saturday at Kentucky Wesleyan.

The 357 all-purpose yards are the third-most by a player in Division II this year. He is currently second in the nation in all-purpose yards (208.8 yards per game) and third in receptions (7.7 per game).