Cortland junior kicker Mike Baloga (New Windsor/Cornwall), junior defensive end Nick Lardaro (Smithtown/Smithtown East) and senior offensive guard Jack McGrath (Orangeburg/Tappan Zee) have been selected as 2023 Division III Football Academic All-District honorees for District 3.  
 
The teams are selected by College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA). In Division III, District 3 encompasses all schools in New York State. National Academic All-Americans will be announced in January. 
 
Baloga is a physical education major who entered the fall semester with a 3.60 overall grade point average. He connected on 91-of-92 point-after kicks and 13-of-19 field goals in 15 games for 130 points, a school single-season record for kickers. Five of his field goals came during NCAA tournament play, including three in the first round at Endicott and one in the national finals versus North Central 
 
Lardaro is an adolescence education - math major who began the fall semester with a 3.53 overall GPA. A starter in all 15 games, Lardaro led the Red Dragons with 8.5 sacks and 12.5 total tackles for loss. He registered three sacks (4.5 total tackles for loss) and two forced fumbles in the NCAA quarterfinals at Alma and he recorded a sack in the national finals versus North Central. 
 
McGrath is a senior sport management major who started the fall semester with a 3.51 overall GPA. A starter in all 12 games in which he appeared, he helped Cortland set school single-season records with 46.2 points per game and 509.2 total offensive yards per contest. 
 
Cortland won the Division III national title with five NCAA playoff wins, capped by a 38-37 victory last Friday night over undefeated and 2022 national champion North Central in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl in Virginia. The Red Dragons won their final 12 games and finished with a 14-1 record to set a school record for wins in a season.