July 25, 2006
ST. LOUIS, Mo. -
The predictions surrounding the start of Illinois State's 2006 football season have been fairly consistent. That trend continued on Tuesday when the Redbirds were picked third in the Gateway Football Conference Preseason Poll, while seniors Laurént Robinson and Cameron Siskowic were each named to the pre-season all-league team.
In addition to Robinson and Siskowic, ISU's Justin Martindale and Kye Stewart were also recognized on the honorable mention team. The Redbirds tallied 190 total points and added two first-place votes in the poll conducted by league coaches, media and sports information directors. Youngstown State was second in the poll with 208 points and seven first-place nods, just 31 points behind preseason favorite and 2005 national runner-up Northern Iowa with 22 first-place votes and 239 points overall.
Southern Illinois was fourth in the poll with 160 points, followed by Western Kentucky (141) in fifth-place and Western Illinois (103) in sixth. Missouri State (79) was seventh in the poll and Indiana State rounded out the group with 32 points.
Robinson is coming off his best season as a Redbird. The Rockledge, Fla., native collected 1,465 yards on 86 catches and 12 touchdowns in 2005, while earning the Gateway Offensive Player of the Year honor, being a finalist for the Walter Payton Award finalist and gaining consensus all-America accolades.
In addition, Robinson enters the 2006 season needing only 26 catches, 431 yards and a single touchdown, to surpass the current record holder, Rickey Garrett, in every Redbird receiving category.
Siskowic, the 2005 leading tackler is the Gateway, was a finalist for the 2005 Buck Buchanan Award, awarded to the best defensive player in I-AA football. The San Diego, Calif., native started all 11 games for the Redbirds at the strong side linebacker position. He finished with 132 total tackles, including 55 solo stops, while averaging 12 tackles per game.
