DAVIS, Calif. -- Tight end McCallan Castles and punter Daniel Whelan each made the first team while cornerback Jordan Perryman earned a spot on the second team, representing UC Davis on the HERO Sports Football Championship Subdivision Preseason All-America honor roll Wednesday.

This continues a series of preseason acclaim for Whelan, a fifth-year sustainable environmental design major from Rancho Mirage, California. He was the lone Aggie on the Stats Perform Preseason All-America team in early August, while he was also named in the 2021 College Football America annual and on the preseason All-Big Sky Conference rolls. Whelan previously made four All-America squads last spring: Stats Perform, the AFCA, Phil Steele and HERO Sports.

Whelan led the Big Sky with a 47.9 gross average and would have led all NCAA FCS players in the same but came up one attempt shy of meeting the qualifying mininum. Nevertheless, he helped UC Davis lead the country in net punting as a team. Whelan totaled 17 punts, with eight inside the opponent 20-yard line and seven of 50 yards or more.

Castles, a psychology major from South Lake Tahoe and a transfer from Cal, captured Sophomore All-America honors last spring after taking over as the Aggies' primary tight end. He caught 12 passes for 194 yards, with touchdowns against Weber State, Cal Poly and Eastern Washington.

Perryman, a human development major from Hanford, joined Whelan on Phil Steele's All-America squad last spring. He totaled 16 tackles, two pass breakups and a forced fumble in the five Aggie games. 

Whelan, Castles and Perryman were also among the 13 All-Big Sky Conference honorees in April. UC Davis finished 3-2 in the shortened 2021 spring season, all against Big Sky games. The Aggies ranked 14th and 16th in the Stats Perform media poll and coaches' poll, respectively. 

ABOUT UC DAVIS:
Centrally located between San Francisco and Lake Tahoe, over 700 student-athletes across 25 teams enjoy an unrivaled undergraduate experience at the fifth-ranked public school in the country.

Ranked annually in the nation's top 10 in diversity and students' social mobility, UC Davis and its innovative Aggie EVO system helps student-athletes develop passions, connect with a comprehensive network of alums and industry leaders, gain real-world experience and thrive as a young professional following a successful launch to full-time employment or graduate school.