Wheeling, W. Va. – With the 2024 regular season coming to an end on Saturday, the Mountain East Conference (MEC) released their annual All-MEC honors. After finishing the year 6-5 overall and 5-4 in MEC play, the Wheeling University Football team had seven total honorees, with three of those landing on the First Team list. Wide Receiver Tre Holloway, linebacker Jack Parry, and Defensive Back Justin McIlwain each earned First Team honors to lead the way.
For Tre Holloway, it is the second All-MEC honor of his career and his first First Team selection as a wide receiver. After breaking out on special teams as a Redshirt freshman, the Redshirt sophomore made his presence felt on offense this past season. He set new career highs in catches (53), receiving yards (753), and receiving touchdowns (12), while averaging a career-best 14.81 yards per catch and 71.63 yards per game. He finished with four 100-yard receiving efforts during the season, including pulling in a career-high 130 yards in the game against West Virginia State. He also ranks among the top receivers in the conference, sitting third in receptions (53), reception yards, and yards per game, while sitting second in the conference in touchdowns.
Jack Parry earns his first All-MEC honors after having a historic year at middle linebacker for the Cardinals. He broke the program's all-time tackle record with 90.0, 43 solo and 47 assisted, to go along with 6.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks on the season. He finished the season strong, picking up double digit tackles in three of his final five games of the season, including a career-best 16 tackles in the game against West Virginia State. Parry led the MEC in tackles, assisted tackles (46) and tackles per game (8.2) this season while sitting second in the conference with 44 solo tackles. He finished just 10 tackles shy of the 100 tackle mark, wrapping up what has been a strong final season in a Cardinal Uniform.
The final Cardinal first teamer was Justin McIlwain, who finished as a First Team All-MEC player for the first time in his career. He finished as the team's third leading tackler, racking up 58.0 total tackles with 37 solo and 21 assisted, but it was his pass defense where he really shined. He broke up five passes on the season, with four of those going down as interceptions, including a pick six in the West Virginia State game. McIlwain sits second in the MEC in interceptions, tied with Charleston's Ra'Shaa Morris and Fairmont State's Howard William's and is in the top 25 with five total pass breakups. He also finished fourth in the conference with 62 interception yards including the touchdown.
With the first release of All-MEC honorees for Football, the Wheeling Athletic Department now has eight total All-MEC honorees this season. The Wheeling Women's Soccer team was the latest to be honored, with Mary DiFonozo and Lily Hanna each earning honors. The three First Team All-MEC honorees are the most first teamers for Wheeling Football since they had three of their own during the 2022 season.
Stay tuned later this afternoon as we reveal the Four Second Team All-MEC honorees and their accomplishments during the year.
