UCA’s Golday earns UAC academic honor

CONWAY — University of Central Arkansas student-athlete Jake Golday was named Monday to the United Athletic Conference (UAC) Football All-Academic Team.

Golday, a sophomore linebacker from Arlington, Tenn., had a 3.63 grade-point average in general business.

Golday, who played at Arlington High School, was UCA’s leading tackler this season with 84 total tackles, including 7.0 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks. He also forced a fumble and recovered a pair of fumbles.

Golday had double-figure tackles in four of the Bears’ final five games, including a career-high 14 stops in the season finale at Austin Peay. He also had 11 tackles vs. Stephen F. Austin and at North Alabama, and 10 tackles vs. Tarleton State. He opened the season with nine tackles against Oklahoma State after converting to linebacker from his defensive end position last season.

The UAC All-Academic team included 11 student-athletes and the honorees selected represented five different programs. The prestigious group boasted eight members with a 4.00 cumulative GPA.

Student-athletes nominated for the UAC All-Academic team must have a cumulative 3.5 GPA, have participated in 90 percent of contests during the season or be a starter in 66 percent of contests and must be at least a sophomore both athletically and academically.

2023 UAC FOOTBALL ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM
Name (GPA | School | Cl | Hometown | Academic Major)

*Maddux Trujillo (4.00 | Austin Peay | Jr. | Flowery Branch, Ga. | Finance)    
Brady Odom (4.00 | Austin Peay | Gr. | Reno, Nev. | Health & Human Performance)
Michael Ruttlen Jr. (4.00 | Austin Peay | Gr. | Mt. Juliet, Tenn. | Public Health)
Jake Golday (3.63 | Central Arkansas | So. | Arlington, Tenn. | General Business)
Jalen Burbage (4.00 | EKU | R-Sr. | Lexington, Ky. | MBA)
Parker McKinney (4.00 | EKU |  R-Sr. | Coalfield, Tenn. | MBA)
Tyler Antkowiak (4.00 | North Alabama | R-Jr. | Trussville, Ala. | MBA)
Sam Contorno (4.00 | North Alabama | R-Jr. | Tuscaloosa, Ala. | Interior Architecture & Design)
Noah Walters (4.00 | North Alabama | So. | Lincoln, Neb. | Business)
Kana’i Eldredge (3.74 | Utah Tech | Sr. | Honolulu, Hawaii | Mathematics/Secondary Education)
Alex Foster (3.80 | Utah Tech | R-So. | Vernal, Utah | Business)