ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T senior tight end Bryan Crider (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias), who finished his playing career this season with more receptions than any player at his position in school history, has been named to the Associated Press' Little All-America team for the 2009 season.

Crider, a third-team selection to the squad, is the ninth player in the history of the Miner program to be selected to an All-America squad and first since Ashton Gronewold was named in 2007. 

In the 2009 season, Crider led the Miners with 57 receptions for 604 yards and four touchdowns to earn second-team all-league honors from the Great Lakes Football Conference. Those totals led to final career numbers of 142 catches for 1,595 yards and 13 touchdowns for the Jefferson City, Mo., native.

The 142 receptions rank fourth all-time at Missouri S&T behind the totals of wide receivers Gronewold, Bob Somerville and Brett Fischer, while the 1,595 yards are the 11^th-most of any player to wear a Miner uniform.

Crider's top game of the season was a 12-catch, 134-yard performance in the Miners' 39-37 win over Saint Francis (Ind.) at a time when the Cougars were ranked fourth in the NAIA. Crider had a key reception covering 24 yards on the Miners' game-winning drive in that game.

He caught 53 passes as a junior to earn first-team honors from the Great Lakes Football Conference.

Crider is the fourth Miner – following Ed Kromka in 1941, Cole Drussa in 2004 and Gronewold in 2006 and 2007 – to be selected to the Associated Press squad, which encompasses all schools below the NCAA Division I level.

The Miners have had at least one player named to a post-season All-America squad in six of the last seven seasons.