NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State senior kicker John Shaughnessy picked up a pair of prestigious awards for excellence as a scholar-athlete on Thursday, being included on the 2012 FCS Athletic Directors Association Academic All-Star Team presented by KP Sports, and the College Sports Journal's FCS All-Academic Team.
 
A National Association of Collegiate Athletic Directors Association panel chose the 54-man ADA Academic All-Star Team, while a panel of FCS experts chose the College Sports Journal's 42-man roster of standout football and academic performers.
 
A second-team All-Southland Conference selection in 2012 after earning first-team all-conference honors last year, Shaughnessy is among the most accurate kickers in school history. He has a 3.69 grade point average in biology, will be recognized for the third straight year as an Academic All-Southland Conference Team member next week, and has been nominated as the SLC Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
 
Shaughnessy, also an Academic All-America finalist as one of eight Division I kickers from around the country, drilled 14 of 17 field goals to finish 28 of his last 33 in his final two seasons. The Shreveport-Byrd product's precision kickoffs helped the Demons limit foes to 18.9 yards per return.
 
In a summer internship at LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, Shaughnessy did cancer research through the Louisiana Biomedical Research Network. He presented findings to a panel including medical school faculty from LSU and Tulane.
 
Shaughnessy has also taken a mission trip for Haitian earthquake relief.
 
He was NSU's 2012 National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete nominee, one of 147 semifinalists from all levels of college football (35 in the FCS).