University of Mount Union linebacker Mitch O'Hara (Avon / Lakewood St. Edward) has been named to the Academic All-America Division III Football First Team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
O'Hara was a three-year letterwinner on the Mount Union football team. A two-time All-OAC and Academic All-OAC linebacker, O'Hara played in 42 games and as a freshman appeared in all 15 games for the 2017 National Championship team. In 2018, he had 89 tackles and 5.0 sacks for a team that won the OAC title and made it to the national championship game. In 2019, he was a team captian that was second on the team in tackles with 61 for a team that also won the OAC championship. He was recognized with the 2021 OAC Clyde Lamb Award as one of the top 10 male scholar athletes in the entire conference.
Off the field, he was an academic peer mentor, treasurer of the Exercise Science Club and a volunteer in the Be The Match bone marrow donation program, the Raider Buddy student mentor program and the UMU Day of Service. He had a 3.72 grade point average and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Exercise Science with minors in Biology, Chemistry and Neuroscience. He plans to attend medical school.
He is the 73rd Academic All-America selection among 53 student-athletes all-time at Mount Union that have earned the award.
To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at his current institution and be nominated by their respective sports information director.
Mount Union assistant athletic director Leonard Reich has served on CoSIDA's Academic All-America national committee since 2002.
Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 15,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.
For more information about the Academic All-America Teams program, please visit www.cosida.com.
