Robinson, Siskowic named preseason all-Americans

[JULY 7, 2006]  NORMAL -- The 2005 football season saw Laurent Robinson and Cameron Siskowic put up career numbers, which led to several postseason awards and recognitions for the pair of Redbird juniors. In 2006, the duo will attempt to better their statistics after being named 2006 Preseason I-AA All-Americans by The Sports Network.

Robinson was ranked as the No. 2 returning wide receiver in the country by The Sports Network earlier this summer, which does not make his first-team selection at wide receiver a surprise. The Rockledge, Fla., native will look to build on his 1,465 yards on 86 catches and 12 touchdowns from 2005, which earned him 2005 Gateway Offensive Player of the Year honors and made him a Walter Payton Award finalist and a consensus all-America selection.

In addition, Robinson is on pace to claim every Illinois State career receiving record. He enters the 2006 season needing only 26 catches, 431 yards and a single touchdown to surpass the current record-holder, Rickey Garrett, in every category.

Siskowic was tabbed as a second-team selection at linebacker by The Sports Network, which earlier ranked him as the No. 6 returning linebacker in I-AA football. As the Gateway Football Conference's leading tackler and a finalist for the 2005 Buck Buchanan Award, Siskowic will lead a Redbird defense in 2006 that was the second-best in total defense in the Gateway in 2005.

The San Diego, Calif., native started all 11 games for the Redbirds at the strong-side linebacker position. He finished with 132 total tackles, including 55 solo stops, while averaging 12 tackles per game. He was also second on the team with 14 tackles for loss, behind Jacksonville Jaguars' fifth-round pick Brent Hawkins, who led the 'Birds and the Gateway with 26.5.

In all, 11 of the 81 players selected are members of Gateway Football Conference teams, second only to the Atlantic 10 Conference, which led all leagues with 14 selections.

[Illinois State University news release provided by Mike Williams]

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