Wayne State (Mich.) University senior running back Joique Bell claimed the Harlon Hill Trophy Friday as the 2009 Division II College Football Player of the Year. Bell received 138 total points and held a commanding 42-point margin in the voting. West Liberty (W.V.) University junior quarterback Zach Amedro finished second in the voting with 96 total points and Arkansas Tech University senior quarterback Nick Graziano was third with 59 points. The award winner is determined in voting by the Division II sports information directors and was presented in front of a crowd of 400 at the 24th annual Harlon Hill Trophy award banquet at the Marriott Shoals Conference Center.

The Harlon Hill Trophy is sponsored by the City of Florence, Florence-Lauderdale Tourism, Opti-Net, Marriott Shoals Hotel and Spa and Herff Jones.

Bell, a senior from Benton Harbor, Mich., received 31 first-place votes in the balloting to 16 for Amedro. With Bell’s selection, it marks the fourth straight year that the Hill Trophy has gone to a running back, after a streak of seven straight wins by quarterbacks from 1999 to 2005. At the conclusion of the Division II regular season, Bell led all four NCAA divisions in rushing yards per game (189.45), scoring (17.5 points per game) and all-purpose yards (217.5 per game). He is the 2009 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year as voted by the league’s coaches. He is also a four-time first-team All-GLIAC selection and finished his career with 6,728 career rushing yards, sixth best in Division II history and eighth best in NCAA history for all divisions.

Bell rushed for 2,084 yards, the 15th-best mark in NCAA Division II history, and scored 29 touchdowns. He also caught 23 passes for 293 yards and three scores. He was named GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week four times in 2009 and eight times in his career. His 152.91 rushing yards per game (for 44 games) is 11th best in Division II history and 25th in NCAA history. Bell scored 576 points in his career which ranks fourth in DII and fifth in NCAA history, while his 13.1 points per game average is fourth in DII and 10th in NCAA history. His 8,055 all-purpose yards is fourth in Division II and ninth in NCAA history. He is just the fourth player in Division II history with two 2,000-yard rushing seasons (Abilene Christian’s Bernard Scott in 2007-08; Emporia State’s Brian Shay in 1996-98; and C.W. Post’s Ian Smart in 2001-02). Bell rushed for 2,065 yards as a freshman to eclipse Johnny Bailey’s freshman rushing mark. In addition to his individual records, WSU had its best four-year win total since the class of 1978.

Following Bell, Amedro and Graziano in the voting were junior running back Isaac Odim of Minnesota- Duluth (57), senior quarterback Brad Iciek of Grand Valley State (57), senior quarterback Harrison Beck of North Alabama (46), junior quarterback Zack Eskridge of Midwestern State (29), senior running back LaRon
Council of Northwest Missouri State (19) and senior quarterback Trevor Harris of Edinboro (14).

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–Courtesy Harlon Hill Trophy Committee