NFF Release

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's University senior wide receiver Will Gillach (Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes) was named one of the 179 semifinalists for the 2018 William V. Campbell Trophy (formerly known as the Draddy Trophy), endowed by Fidelity Investments, and is a candidate for the 2018 National Football Foundation (NFF) Scholar-Athlete Awards. 

The NFF and College Hall of Fame made the announcement today.

Gillach (pronounced gill-latch) is one of 41 football student-athletes from NCAA Division III and one of two from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) to be honored by the NFF. Bethel defensive lineman Kyle Kilgore is the other.

The award recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation, and up to 14 of the candidates will be named recipients of a prestigious NFF National Scholar-Athlete Award. Launched in 1959, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete program awards $18,000 scholarships that can be used for the honorees' postgraduate education. 

This year's finalists will be announced Oct. 31, and one will be declared the winner of the Campbell Trophy Dec. 4 at the 61st NFF Annual Awards Dinner in New York City. The postgraduate scholarship for the Campbell Trophy's recipient is increased to $25,000.

Gillach leads the Johnnies in all three receiving categories through the season's first three games this fall: receptions (12), receiving yards (199) and touchdowns (3). He finished second on the team with 22 catches for 369 yards (16.8 avg.), and was third with five touchdowns receptions in 2017. Gillach became the first Johnnie to record three or more receiving touchdowns in a half since 2002 (Blake Elliott '03 vs. St. Thomas) Oct. 21, 2017, against Gustavus Adolphus.

A three-time Academic All-MIAC (minimum 3.5 GPA) honoree and a member of the 2017 Allstate American Football Coaches' Association (AFCA) Good Works Team, Gillach is a biochemistry major (pre-medicine emphasis) with a 3.78 GPA. 

In the community, Gillach serves as a child mentor at Anna Marie's Alliance-Domestic Abuse Shelter in St. Cloud. He was a member of SJU's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and volunteered with Kids Against Hunger in March 2017 and March 2018, where he helped pack nearly 82,400 meals and 100,000 meals, respectively. Gillach serves as a coordinator with the Saint John's Health Initiative organization, helping to research, organize and promote health-related topics and opportunities for SJU students. 

He helped the SJU football team raise money for Tackle Cancer and the "Up Till Dawn" campaign, collecting donations for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in 2015, 2016, 2017 and again this fall. Gillach attended the St. Jude Collegiate Leadership Seminar July 25-27 in Memphis, Tenn., and participated at Special Olympics Minnesota, playing alongside special Olympic athletes in unified basketball and bowling.
  
Gillach participated in a nine-day medical mission trip to Nicaragua in March 2017, where he served the medical needs of over 300 patients in impoverished communities. He helped local doctors discover, diagnose and treat a variety of medical conditions.    

He serves on the board of directors for BonafideU foundation, a non-profit devoted to recognizing and rewarding kindness through $5,000 scholarships to deserving youth. On the board, Gillach helps to provide operational oversight and development of the foundation's startup, and assists in the foundation's governance.

Gillach is currently conducting an independent research investigation on the opioid epidemic, particularly focusing on the ethical responsibilities of pharmaceutical companies and medical professionals concerning to the opioid abuse problem. He completed a 2-week stem cell and regenerative science workshop during summer 2017 and is currently working in the lab of David Mitchell, associate professor of biology at CSB/SJU, examining the prevalence of antibiotic resistance in bacteria located in the central Minnesota area (bacteria from samples from on-campus lakes, the Mississippi River and the Sauk River). Another goal of the research is to understand antibiotic-resistant bacteria by sequencing its DNA. 

Nominated by their schools, which are limited to one nominee each, candidates for the awards must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of eligibility, have a GPA of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale, have outstanding football ability as a first-team player or significant contributor and demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship. The class is selected each year by the NFF Awards Committee, which is comprised of a nationally recognized group of media, members of the College Football Hall of Fame and athletics administrators.

The Johnnies (3-0, 2-0 MIAC) travel to face Augsburg (2-2, 0-2 MIAC) for a 1 p.m. kickoff this Saturday, Sept. 29, at Edor Nelson Field in Minneapolis.