GREENWOOD, Ind. – The College Sports Communicators (CSC) announced Tuesday morning that Lewis & Clark College football players Ben Burnham and Mitchell Sarmento were named to the 2023 CSC Academic All-District Football Team.

Football landed two honorees on the district academic list for the first time since at least 2001, records from 1982 to 2000 are not available from the CSC. Football was the organization's first sport to be recognized for academic excellence, with the first Academic All-America team released in 1952. All-District teams were added in 1982. Three Pioneer football players have been named All-District prior to this season. Erick Gerwick earned the distinction in 2006, Curtis Smith was named to the Academic All-District team each season from 2008-10, and Pete Lahti earned recognition in back-to-back years (2017-18).

To be eligible for the CSC Academic All-District honor, the student-athlete must be at least a sophomore academically and athletically, have at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average, and must have competed in 90 percent or started in at least 66 percent of the games played by the team for the fall season. Burnham and Sarmento were nominated based on their outstanding academic and field achievement.

Burnham is a political science major and rhetoric and media studies minor from Burbank, California. The senior wide receiver played in all ten games for the Pioneers this season. Burnham posted career-highs with 723 receiving yards and five touchdowns in a season. He had a career-best 59-yard touchdown reception on Homecoming against Whitworth and posted his best receiving game at Willamette with 138 reception yards.  

Sarmento is a sophomore linebacker from Roseville, California and has yet to declare a major. He played in eight games for Lewis & Clark after missing last season due to injury. Sarmento recorded 23 total tackles (11 solo, 12 assists) in 2023 and had a career-high six tackles at Pacific. He registered one kick return on special teams for 16 yards against Linfield.