WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (April 23, 2018)—Former William & Mary standout offensive lineman Connor Hilland was recently honored as a recipient of the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) annual All-American Strength and Conditioning Athlete of the Year award.
 
The NSCA All-American Athlete of the Year program is in its 38th year and recognizes student-athletes' dedication to strength training and conditioning. Hilland was selected for the honor by W&M speed, strength and conditioning coach John Sauer.
 
"Connor Hilland is one of the truly outstanding offensive linemen to play at William & Mary in my tenure," Sauer said. "He possesses a superior work ethic and self discipline in his preparation. Because of this, he was able to overcome injuries to be a four-year starter (39 starts) during his career. He was voted a team captain in 2017 and selected first-team All-CAA and VaSID. Additionally, he was selected to the East-West Shrine Game and Tropical Bowl. It has been a real pleasure coaching this young man the last 4 ½ years."
 
Under Saur's guidance, a W&M football player has earned All-America strength honors during each of the past 30 seasons. The elite group includes eight players who have recently gone on to sign with NFL teams – Jerry Ugokwe ('17), DeAndre Houston-Carson ('16), Mike Reilly ('15), Jerome Couplin ('14), Jonathan Grimes ('12), Sean Lissemore ('10), Adrian Tracy ('10) and Derek Cox ('09).