UND Student-Athletes earn academic recognition from NCHC

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Five University of North Dakota student-athletes were named to the 2015-16 National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Academic All-Conference Team today, two of whom also earned NCHC Scholar-Athlete Team honors.

UND’s five selections to the NCHC Academic All-Conference Team included junior Matt Hrynkiw (Mechanical  Engineering | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) and sophomores Cam Johnson (Pre-Entrepreneurship | Troy, Mich.), Austin Poganski (Pre-Entrepreneurship | St. Cloud, Minn.), Tucker Poolman (Pre-Banking & Financial Economics | East Grand Forks, Minn.) and Johnny Simonson (Pre-Managerial Finance & Accounting | Grand Forks, N.D.).

The NCHC Academic All-Conference Team recognizes student-athletes who have accumulated a 3.0 cumulative grade-point average or better while having completed at least one year at their current institution. All five of UND’s honorees were repeat selections from 2014-15.

Additionally, Poganski and Simonson were both named to the 2015-16 NCHC Scholar-Athlete Team. In a change in policy from the first two seasons, the NCHC Scholar-Athlete Team now includes any student-athlete who has been at their institution for a full year and has achieved a 3.50 cumulative grade-point average or better. During the NCHC’s first two seasons, the scholar-athlete team consisted of only eight members with one representing each school.

While freshmen are not currently eligible for the NCHC Academic All-Conference or Scholar-Athlete Teams, those freshmen that achieve a cumulative 3.0 GPA or better at the conclusion of the 2015-16 academic year will be added to the academic all-conference team by the conference over the summer. Similarly, any freshmen who compile a 3.5 GPA or better will earn scholar-athlete team honors.

The 2015-16 NCHC Scholar-Athlete of the Year will be announced at the NCHC Awards Celebration on Thursday, March 17, in Minne­apolis, Minn. on the eve of the NCHC Frozen Faceoff.