JCU’s McKenrick earns third All-America nod

It’s been some kind of three-week postseason barrage of honors for John Carroll’s Mason McKenrick.

The Mentor graduate capped an impressive three-week haul on Dec. 15 when the linebacker was named to his third AllAmerican team.

McKenrick was a second-team pick on the D3football.com All-America team. Before that, he was also a second-team All-America pick on the Associated Press and American Football Coaches Association teams.

“It’s been a humbling experience receiving these honors,” said McKenrick. “They serve as more motivation to continue and train to working toward reaching my full potential.”

McKenrick is a 6-foot4, 220-pound linebacker who’s hoping to land in an NFL training camp next summer. He’s currently training with area trainer Tim Robertson — who’s also John Carroll’s strength and conditioning coach — at Speed Strength in Chester Township.

McKenrick is working to improve his 40-yard time (he’s recently been timed at 4.6 seconds) and agility while putting on a few pounds to get to in the 230-pound range.

He recently received interest from the NFL. In November, a Broncos scout visited JCU to watch film of McKenrick.

Other honors for McKenrick this postseason include being named the winner of the Gene Slaughter Award for the second consecutive season, an honor given to the Ohio Athletic Conference’s top linebacker. He was also named first-team All-OAC for the second straight season, and a first-team AllNorth Region selection by D3football.com.

McKenrick’s final season at JCU included 67 tackles and 30 solo stops with eight tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. He also had two interceptions, one returned for a touchdown, and recovered a fumble. For his college career, McKenrick made 232 tackles.