The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- December 21, 1998

Williams, Shay, Hvistendahl capture divisional football awards

Three record setters have swept college football's highest division honors.

University of Texas at Austin running back Ricky Williams was awarded the Heisman Trophy, while Emporia State University running back and wide receiver/punter Scott Hvistendahl of Augsburg College won player-of-the-year honors in Divisions II and III, respectively.

All three players eclipsed significant records in their respective divisions.

Williams

The most prolific runner in Division I-A history, Williams rushed for 2,124 this season to boost his career rushing totals to 6,279, which eclipses the previous mark set by Tony Dorsett of the University of Pittsburgh.

Williams was given the award at the Downtown Athletic Club in New York December 12.

Williams, who will play in the 1999 Cotton Bowl against Mississippi State University, broke Dorsett's mark with a 60-yard touchdown run against Texas A&M University, College Station, on November 27.

Williams will leave Texas holding 16 NCAA records and 41 school records.

Other leading candidates for the trophy were Kansas State University quarterback Michael Bishop; University of California, Los Angeles, quarterback Cade McNown; and University of Kentucky quarterback Tim Couch.

Williams, who decided to return to Texas for his senior season instead of declaring himself eligible for the National Football League draft, won the award with 2,355 total points, the third-highest in the 64-year history of the Heisman. Bishop finished second with 792 points.

Shay

Emporia State's Shay, who rewrote the college football record book, won the Harlon Hill Trophy, which is presented annually to the best Division II football player.

Shay was recognized December 11 before a crowd of about 600 at the Harlon Hill Trophy awards banquet at the Florence, Alabama, Conference Center.

Shay set 17 NCAA records during his four-year career at Emporia State, including five all-division records. He finished his career as the all-time leading rusher in college football history with 6,958 yards. He also established the record for all-purpose yardage at 9,301 and led Division II in rushing (205.9 yards per game), scoring (16.0 points per game) and all-purpose yards (256.3 yards per game) this season. His 88 touchdowns, 544 points and 15 200-yard rushing games also are Division II records.

Shay accumulated 303 points in balloting for the award, compared to 118 for runner-up Corte McGuffey, a quarterback for the University of Northern Colorado.

Hvistendahl

Hvistendahl, who broke Jerry Rice's all-divisions record for career receiving yardage, was presented the Gagliardi Trophy, which recognizes the most outstanding player in Division III.

Hvistendahl was recognized December 10 in Salem, Virginia, site of the 1998 Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl.

His 4,696 yards on 285 receptions (third all-time in Division III and fourth all-time in all divisions) included 1,860 this season on 112 receptions, each marking the second-best in a single season in Division III history.

He became just the fourth player in Division III (26th in all divisions) to catch more than 100 passes in a season. He also had 15 receiving touchdowns, giving him 40 in his career.

Hvistendahl broke every Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference single-season and career record for receiving. He also holds every single-season and career receiving record and all but one single-game receiving record at Augsburg.