NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. – The Associated Press announced Tuesday that University of the Incarnate Word graduate student punter Joe Zema was named to the 2017 AP FCS All-America First Team.
 
The announcement comes less than a month after Zema garnered All-Southland Conference First Team honors.
 
Zema is only the second AP All-America honoree in UIW history, and the only Cardinal to ever receive AP All-America First Team recognition. Former UIW standout Myke Tavarres was named to the AP FCS All-America Second Team in 2015.
 
A 6'2" punter out of Melbourne, Australia, Zema was arguably the Cardinals' most consistent and effective weapon of the 2017 season. Zema's UIW career was a success from day one, as he set the program record for longest punt in his first collegiate game, launching a 75-yarder at Fresno State.
 
Zema finished the year as the national leader in punting at the FCS level, with an average of 46.7 yards per punt. The next-closest player in the country had 26 fewer punts and averaged a full 1.4 yards less per punt. Zema booted 31 punts over 50 yards, while the next-closest punter in the conference had just 14. Zema concluded his stellar year by breaking the league record for punting average in a season, set by Chad Stanley of Stephen F. Austin in 1998.
 
Twelve student-athletes from six Southland intuitions were selected to the 2017 AP FCS All-America Teams. Zema was one of only four conference players to earn All-America First Team recognition.
 
AP RELEASE
 
SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE RELEASE
 
For the most up-to-date information on UIW Athletics visit uiwcardinals.com. Be sure to follow UIW Athletics on Twitter @UIWAthletics and like UIW Athletics on Facebook at UIW Athletics.