SCSU men's hockey players earn NCHC All-Academic honors

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – While student-athletes in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) are always striving to perform their best on the ice, several are also performing well in the classroom as 111 NCHC student-athletes earned NCHC Academic All-Conference Team honors for the 2017-18 season, the conference revealed Wednesday. Among the 111 honorees, 38 were also named NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athletes for their exceptional academic accomplishments.

This group of honorees included 11 student-athletes from St. Cloud State, who gained Academic All-Conference honors and three Huskies, who earned NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete honors.

SCSU seniors Blake Winiecki and Mika Ilvonen gained their fourth consecutive Academic All-Conference award, while juniors earning their third consecutive NCHC Academic All-Conference award included Jimmy Schuldt, Mikey Eyssimont, Patrick Newell, Jon Lizotte and Clark Kuster. Huskies to earn their second Academic All-Conference award include Jack Poehling, David Zevnik and Robby Jackson. Jeff Smith received his first Academic All-Conference award this winter.

Huskies recognized as Distinguished Scholar-Athlete notice include Schuldt, Lizotte and Kuster. This marked the third Distinguished Scholar-Athlete award for Schuldt and Kuster.

To be eligible for the NCHC Academic All-Conference Team, a student-athlete must compile a 3.0 cumulative grade-point average or better while having completed at least one academic year at his current institution. Student-athletes that have accrued a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or better are honored as NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athletes (previously called the Scholar-Athlete Team), in addition to Academic All-Conference. The 38 Distinguished Scholar-Athletes are only one fewer than last year's Scholar-Athlete Team and the second-most recipients since the NCHC switched to its current criteria for the Distinguished Scholar-Athletes/Scholar-Athlete Team in 2015-16.

Of the 38 student-athletes to be tabbed NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athletes, 21 of them have posted a GPA north of 3.7, including five with a 3.9 GPA or higher. Omaha led all NCHC schools with 10 Distinguished Scholar-Athletes, with half of them having a GPA above 3.7, while North Dakota had eight student-athletes earn the honor and Western Michigan saw seven Broncos collect Distinguished Scholar-Athlete accolades.

Among the 111 NCHC Academic All-Conference Team members, five schools placed at least 14 student-athletes on the team, led again by Omaha with 20 representatives. Colorado College was second among the NCHC teams with 17 honorees, despite having no seniors on its roster, while Western Michigan (16), North Dakota (15) and Miami (14) rounded out the top five for most Academic All-Conference Team members.

While freshmen and first-year transfers are not currently eligible for the NCHC Academic All-Conference Team or Distinguished Scholar-Athlete recognition, those freshmen and transfers that achieve a cumulative 3.0 GPA or better at the conclusion of the 2017-18 academic year, will be added to the Academic All-Conference Team by the NCHC over the summer. Similarly, any freshmen or transfers who compile a 3.5 GPA or better will be named an NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete.

The 2017-18 NCHC Senior Scholar-Athlete Award will be announced at the NCHC Awards Celebration on Thursday, March 15 in Saint Paul, Minn. on the eve of the NCHC Frozen Faceoff.

All 111 members of the 2017-18 NCHC Academic All-Conference Team are listed below by school, with those also earning NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete recognition in BOLD.

The Huskies currently own first place in the NCHC standings with a 19-6-3, 13-4-1 NCHC record. SCSU is ranked #2/3 in the national Division I polls this week and are the top rated team in the NCAA Pairwise rankings. SCSU will play at #15 Western Michigan on Feb. 16-17. Fans can listen to the game on The River 96.7 FM (www.river967.com) and they can watch online at NCHC.tv/scsu

ST. CLOUD STATE
Mikey Eyssimont
Mika Ilvonen
Robby Jackson
Clark Kuster
Jon Lizotte
Patrick Newell
Jack Poehling
Jimmy Schuldt
Jeff Smith
Blake Winiecki
David Zevnik