WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State senior running back Travon Holder (Cheney/Hartford, Conn.) and senior linebacker Zach Howard (Prouty/Spencer, Mass.) added D3Football.com All-East Region honors to their litany of awards on Tuesday.
Holder and Howard were both named to the second team. Westfield's two placements on the team led the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference's contingent, which had a total of four players from three teams selected to the list.
The All-Region selections move on to the national All-America ballot. That team will be announced on December 13, before the Stagg Bowl, the NCAA Division III national championship game.
Howard was previously chosen as the MASCAC defensive player of the year and was a New England Football Writers Division II/III All-New England selection.
He led the Owls in tackles (78), and was among the team and league leaders in sacks, tackles for loss, forced fumbles and interceptions. He returned an interception for a touchdown in the Owls win against Worcester State. Howard was named to the All-Conference team for a third straight season, completing a remarkable comeback story that included three knee surgeries between his senior year of high school and five years of college, as he used his medical redshirt year to play this season as a grad student.
Holder was a first-team All-MASCAC selection and was also selected to the NEFW team.
He led the MASCAC in rushing yards (1,132), yards per game (125.8), all-purpose yards per game (159.8) and touchdowns (15) in nine games played. Holder ranked in the top 20 in the nation in several offensive categories. Holder wraps up a stellar four-year career at Westfield with 3,428 rushing yards, 37 catches for 314 yards, and 38 total touchdowns. Holder ties the school record with 38 career touchdowns, is second on the all-time scoring list, and third on the all-time rushing list.
Westfield finished the year with a 5-5 overall record and a 4-4 mark in the MASCAC.