FLORENCE, Ala. (October 30, 2025) – The Fred Mitchell Award Midseason Watch List was announced this month, recognizing 38 placekickers across six levels of college football. North Alabama kicker Ian Vachon was named to the list.
 
The Fred Mitchell Award recognizes placekickers for their excellence on the field and in the community. The recipient of the Fred Mitchell Award will be announced in December.
 
"Since arriving in the summer, Ian has been an absolute joy to coach and is a weapon for our offense," said UNA head coach Brent Dearmon. "He is a tireless worker and also a great teammate."
 
Vachon, a redshirt junior, has enjoyed a breakout season for the Lions after transferring in from Auburn University this offseason. Over eight games, Vachon is 7-10 on field goal attempts with a long of 55 yards.
 
His 55-yard field goal came against Northeastern State on Sept. 13, breaking an 11-year old record last set by Taylor Pontius in 2014. This also ranks as the sixth-longest field goal by an FCS kicker this season.
 
In the community, Vachon has been involved in numerous ways, including UNA's move-in day, assisting with the Kilby Elementary car drop-off line and pep rally, and assisting with a Police vs. Fire Flag Football Game.
 
The namesake for the award, Fred Mitchell, was a longtime (1974-2015) award-winning sports columnist for the Chicago Tribune and the author of 12 sports books. Mitchell set the NCAA record for career kick-scoring at Wittenberg University in 1968 among "College Division" schools that are now classified as FCS, Division II and Division III.
 
Vachon is one of 19 FCS kickers on the midseason watch list.
 
The Lions have four games remaining this season, starting this Saturday at Utah Tech. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. CT in St. George, Utah.
 
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