AUSTIN, Texas  College Sports Communicators (CSC, formerly CoSIDA) announced on Tuesday its 2024 Football Academic All-America® Teams, showing Western Colorado's Ricky Freymond and Chance Wiening as First Team selections.

Athletics communication directors at NCAA Divisions I, II and III and at NAIA institutions submit nominees for CSC All-District teams, with a CSC committee selecting those from the district team who will be forwarded on to the All-America® ballot. The athletics communication directors then vote for the Academic All-America® Team.

Western earned All-District recognition for five players. Freymond and Wiening were joined on the all-district team by Drew Nash, Blake Nieslanik and Jaydon Young, with Freymond, Wiening and Nash advancing to the All-America® ballot.

This is both Wiening's and Freymond's initial CSC Academic All-America® honor. Earlier this postseason both were voted to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference All-Academic First Team.

Freymond posts a 3.57 cumulative grade point average as a business administration major, and Wiening registered a 3.90 GPA in the exercise and sport science (ESS) graduate program after earning a 3.94 GPA in the undergraduate ESS program.

Tuesday's honor adds to the postseason award list for Freymond. The RMAC and Division 2 Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) Defensive Player of the Year and first team defensive player on both lists, he garnered four first team DII All-American honors — the Associated Press, the American Football Coaches Association, the Don Hansen Small College All-American team, and the inaugural DII Walter Camp All-American squad.

Freymond was also one of 14 DII finalists for the Cliff Harris Award.

Wiening earned his first Honorable Mention All-RMAC this season.

The Mountaineer football program has had nine CSC/CoSIDA Academic All-America® honorees in its history. The most recent was earned by Austin Ekeler in 2016 — his third consecutive Academic All-America® award.