CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Framingham State University running back Melikke Van Alstyne has been named the final recipient of the Ray Gallant Insurance New England Football Writers' Gridiron Club of Greater Boston Division II/III Gold Helmet Award for the 2013 season. 

This is the fifth time this season a student-athlete from the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference was given the honor. Kevin Bumpus of Worcester State, Octavias McKoy of Western Connecticut State and DaVon Fuller of UMass.-Dartmouth were the other recipients with McKoy receiving the award twice.

Van Alstyne, who earns his second career Gold Helmet, eclipsed the 6,000 yard mark in his career as he helped lead the Rams to a 36-0 victory over Worcester State. The senior rushed for 146 yards on 35 carries with three touchdowns.

The Salem, Mass., native and Framingham State all-time leading rusher now has 6,025 career rushing yards and joins former Maine Maritime running backs Steve Tardif (6,093 yards) and Jim Bower (6,060 yards) as the only New England Division III backs to surpass the milestone. Van Alstyne is just 68 yards shy of Tardif's total. 

Van Alstyne was selected to the MASCAC First-Team All-Conference, which was announced Wednesday. He finished the season with 18 touchdowns and averaging 150 yards per contest.

Framingham State closed out the regular season 9-1 overall and finished a perfect 8-0 in MASCAC play. The Rams received an at-large bid to the 2013 NCAA Division III Football Championship and will travel to Ithaca College for a first round game Saturday at noon.

Portions of release courtesy of Harvard Athletic Communications and Framingham State Sports Information.