Pair of Valley football products earn college all-conference honors in same division

WASILLA — It’s not everyday we see a Valley football product land on a collegiate all-conference team. And we’ll hardly ever see two out of the same league.

But it happened this season in the NCAA Division III Midwest Conference.

Macalester College senior and former Wasilla High standout Cash McGregor and Lawrence College sophomore and former Houston High standout John Koeneman each earned second-team honors.

McGregor, 2014 Graduate of Wasilla High, started at safety for the Scots, and finished third on the team with 60 tackles. He also picked off a pair of passes, recovered three fumbles, blocked a kick and forced a fumble.

In 33 games in his college career, McGregor finished with 160 total tackles and three interceptions.

As a high school athlete, McGregor was a three-sport standout for the Warriors, an 11-time letterman, excelling in football, basketball and soccer. He was a team captain in all three sports, and helped the Warriors earn a region title at least once in all three sports.

As a senior, McGregor earned first-team all-state honors on offense and defense and was named the Alaska Defensive Player of the Year.

The Scots finished 5-5 overall and 3-2 in conference in 2017.

Koeneman, a 2016 Houston High graduate, earned second-team all-conference honors as a sophomore. The defensive tackle led Lawrence defensive linemen with 41 tackles, and was fifth on the team. The 6-foot-4 lineman also tied for the team lead with 2.5 sacks.

Koeneman earned a full academic scholarship when he committed to the Appleton, Wisconsin, program. In addition to competing in football, track and field, Native Youth Olympics and clay target shooting while a student at Houston, Koeneman was his school’s salutatorian after posting a 3.918 grade point average.

The Division II Midwest Conference includes a dozen football teams. Macalester and Lawrence are part of the North Division, which also includes St. Norbert College, University of Chicago, Ripon College and Beloit College.

Macalester finished 5-5 overall and 3-2 in conference play. Lawrence was 2-8 overall and 1-4 in conference.

McGregor and the Scots faced Koenemen and the Vikings in October. Macalester edged Lawrence 21-18. McGregor finished with three tackles in the game. Koeneman had four.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.