Wayne State running back Josh Renel (Rochester Adams) was one of 12 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference athletes (six male, six female) to receive the Commissioner's Award for the fall season.

The award honors those who excel both in the classroom, and on the field of play.

A junior running back for Wayne State, Renel holds a 3.69 GPA with a double major of business administration and marketing, earning CoSIDA Academic All-District honors and a spot on the GLIAC All-Academic team for football, both for the second year in a row.

On the field, he was the only player in NCAA Division II football to break the 2,000 all-purpose yard plateau for the regular season, earning All-GLIAC honors as a runner and return specialist, and all-region honors from Hansen's Football Gazette.

Academic All-MAC teams announced

Oakland County was also well represented when the Mid-American Conference recently announced its all-academic teams.

Central Michigan University placed four players on the all-academic team, including Milford's Mike Petrucci and Rochester Adams' Cody Wilson, while Novi Detroit Catholic Central grad Scott Kovanda was one of Ball State's three representatives.

A junior linebacker, Petrucci carries a 3.70 GPA in mathematics, while Wilson, a sophomore wide receiver, has a 3.91 GPA. Kovanda, a junior punter, carries a 3.95 GPA in business.

Miami (Ohio) defensive end Jason Semmes (Orchard Lake St. Mary's) and Bowling Green center Ben Bojicic (Farmington Hills Harrison) earned honorable mention.

The good couple of weeks continued in the Renel household in Rochester Hills, as Rochester Adams grad Josh Renel led the Wayne State Warriors to the inaugural South Division football title in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, a day after being named a semifinalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy.

Renel, a junior running back for WSU, is one of 24 finalists for the award. His 2,133 all-purpose yards this season are the third-best total in school history, ranking only behind the 2006 (2,462) and 2009 (2,392) totals posted by his predecessor at RB for Wayne State, Joique Bell. Now a member of the Indianapolis Colts — his third team this season, after going undrafted in the spring — Bell won the Harlon Hill Trophy last year.

Also named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team within the last two weeks, Renel had 207 all-purpose yards for the Warriors Saturday, as they beat Findlay, 44-27, to earn their school-record ninth win, and the South Division title at 8-2. Renel's 115-yard, 2-TD effort marked his fourth straight 100-yard rushing game.

Renel was one of three GLIAC players — along with Hillsdale QB Troy Weatherhead and Michigan Tech RB Phil Milbrath — to make the list of six candidates from Super Regional 3. The top two vote-getters from voting in each of the four regions will go onto the national ballot. The winner will be announced on Dec. 17.