CHICAGO – For the first time since moving to the Division I level in 2008, the North Dakota football program had multiple players garner All-America honors as senior offensive lineman Sean Meehan and freshman running back John Santiago were both named to the STATS All-America Team on Tuesday.

Santiago, who was named to the second team as an all-purpose player, broke UND's Division I rushing record and became the first true freshman in the 53-year history of the Big Sky Conference to lead the league in rushing with 1,459 yards in 2015. He also broke UND's single-season record for all-purpose yards, finishing his first collegiate season with 2,159 yards and his average of 196.3 all-purpose yards per game was third best in the FCS and tops in the Big Sky.

Santiago also added 16 rushing touchdowns – a total that ranks second all-time on UND's single-season charts – and shared the FCS regular-season lead with nine 100-yard rushing games. Eight of those came in Big Sky play as he was the only back in the country to eclipse 100 yards rushing in each of his league games. He averaged 27.7 yards per kickoff return, which was second best in the Big Sky and 12th best in the FCS.

Helping pave the way for Santiago's record-breaking season was Meehan, who landed on the third team. He is the first UND offensive lineman at the DI level to garner All-America honors. Meehan and company helped UND's ground attack finish 12th in the FCS with an average of 238.6 yards per game and set a DI program record with 2,625 total rushing yards.

Former wide receiver Greg Hardin is the only other UND player to earn DI All-America honors (2012 and 2013).

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