CHARLOTTE, N.C. – VMI's George Handler, Tim Maypray and Marc Ray were named to the 2009 Big South Football All-Conference First Team, as released by the League office Tuesday.

Handler, a fifth-year senior offensive lineman, earned his second career All-Conference honor and initial First Team accolade. He was also named to the conference's All-Academic team for the first time.

Maypray was tabbed for his third consecutive All-Conference team, having now been voted a representative of the League at four different positions; wide receiver and kickoff returner in 2007, quarterback in 2008 and now punt returner this season. Finally, Ray became the first Keydet punter to be named First Team All-Conference since 2002, when VMI was a member of the Southern Conference.

In addition to the three first-teamers, a quartet of Keydets were named to the conference's Second Team, including senior Howard Abegesah, who earned his third career All-Conference nod. The running back was joined by three defensive players, as Josh Wine, Emilio Calvin and Byron Allen each earned their first career All-Conference honor.

Season recap information for each honoree appears below:

OL - #55 GEORGE HANDLER, VMI, R-SENIOR
Four-year starter who has played every position on the offensive line…split time between center and guard in 2009…has been a big part of VMI's rushing offense output as the Keydets led the Big South Conference in rushing for the fourth straight year and FCS in rushing for the second consecutive year…Through 11 games, VMI ranked first in the league and nation in FCS with a 276.7 average…posted a team-high 13 knockdowns against Gardner-Webb and also had 12 knockdowns against Presbyterian…made 41 consecutive career starts…2008-09 Big South Presidential Honor Roll…2008 Second Team All-Big South and 2009 Preseason All-Big South selection at offensive line… Has a 3.054 GPA in Mechanical Engineering. 

PR - #28 TIM MAYPRAY, VMI, SENIOR
Led the Big South in punt returns with a 12.9 average…also returned 16 punts which was tops in the conference…returned a punt 86 yards for a touchdown against Gardner-Webb which was the second longest in school history and third longest in Foster Stadium history. It was also VMI's first punt return for a touchdown in nine seasons…the punt return for TD also made him the only active player in FCS history to account for a touchdown in rushing, passing, receiving, returning a kickoff, and returning a punt.  

P - #80 MARC RAY, VMI, R-FRESHMAN
Led the Big South Conference in punting with a 38.9 yards per punt…punted a season long punt of 56 yards in opener against Robert Morris where he averaged 50.0 yards in three punts with two punts 50+ yards and two punts inside the 20… averaged 41.5 yards per punt against Coastal Carolina…averaged 40.8 yards and placed one punt inside the 20 against James Madison…punted a 53-yarder against Liberty and a 52-yarder against Gardner-Webb…had just one touchback on the year…punted into nine fair catches on the season…finished with four punts over 50 yards on the year.

RB - #31 HOWARD ABEGESAH, VMI, SENIOR
Piled up the most total rushing yards of any back in the BSC in '09 and ranked second in yards per game 87.6…was second in the BSC in rushing attempts (171), sixth in yards per rush (5.6), and tied for seventh in rush TD's (6)…compiled four 100-yard games on the season to include 165 against Presbyterian College, 160 against Charleston Southern, 111 against Army and 106 against Robert Morris…named Big South Offensive Player of the Week for Oct. 24 when he scored on TD runs of 1, 32 and 12 yards to go with his 165 rushing yards against PC…broke out a 46-yard TD against CSU and a 44-yard TD rush at Army…rushed for 87 yards in first half against ODU before ankle injury ended his season in finale…finished career fourth on VMI career rushing list with 2,860 yards…had 13 career 100-yard rushing games. 

DB - #22 BYRON ALLEN, VMI, R-SOPHOMORE
Ranked second in the Big South Conference in tackles per game (9.3)…led Big South Conference defensive backs in tackles per game in both overall and conference games…logged five double-digit tackle games on the year including a career-high 17 total stops at Liberty (eight solos, nine assists)…also posted 12 tackles against Gardner-Webb with five solos and seven assists…credited with 11 tackles against #1 Richmond with 0.5 TFL for -7 yards…also had 11 tackles in season opener against Robert Morris…forced and recovered a fumble at Coastal Carolina and broke up passes against Richmond and Liberty…racked up five solos and four assists against James Madison and also had seven tackle games against Stony Brook and Presbyterian College.  

LB - #99 EMILIO CALVIN, VMI, R-SOPHOMORE
Big-play performer for the VMI defense at outside linebacker…ranked third on the team in tackles with 66 and led in tackles-for-loss with 9.0 for minus 37 yards…ranked 13th in the Big South Conference in tackles per game (6.0) and tied for fifth in tackles-for-loss per game (0.2)…among league linebackers, he ranked in the Top 10 in tackles per game (9th)…had career-high 11 tackles versus Gardner-Webb with 1 TFL and nine tackles at Presbyterian College (seven solos and two assists) and four Tackles-for-loss for -18 yards including a sack for -9 yards and was named Big South Conference Defensive Player-of-the-Week…had nine tackles against Coastal Carolina…tied for fifth in the conference in tackles-for-loss in overall games (0.82) and was second in TFL in league games (1.08)   

DL - #50 JOSH WINE, VMI, JUNIOR
Helped VMI to its best run defense numbers in 32 years…Keydets allowed 146.8 yards per game rushing – the best since 1977 - and led the league in rushing defense in conference games with 127.2 yards per game…led the Big South down linemen in tackles with 63 (5.7 per game) and had four tackles-for-loss for -11 yards and 1.5 sacks for -4 yards…posted a career-high 10 tackles against Charleston Southern with a forced fumble…also logged eight-tackle games against James Madison and Stony Brook (five solos) and seven tackles at Army with 0.5 TFL for -3 yards…posted six-tackle games at #1 ranked Richmond and against ODU with a tackle for loss for -5 yards…ranked 15th overall in the BSC in tackles per game.