Five UND men's hockey players earn WCHA honors

GRAND FORKS, N.D. - Senior defenseman Chay Genoway was named a four-time recipient of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Scholar-Athlete Award today, highlighting North Dakota's five recipients of the league's highest academic honor.

UND's other honorees included two-time recipients Brad Eidsness (Jr., Chestermere, Alberta) and Derrick LaPoint (Sr., Eau Claire, Wis.) and first-time recipients Brett Bruneteau (So., Omaha, Neb.) and Tate Maris (So., Denver, Colo.).

Genoway, a native of Morden, Manitoba, is only the second four-time recipient in men's WCHA history, joining Scott McCulloch of Colorado College (2005-09). Genoway is a management major and a three-time All-WCHA Academic selection.

In each of the previous three seasons, Genoway has received UND's Archie Krum Memorial Athletic Scholarship for leadership qualities, high academic standards and athletics excellence. He was named an ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American as a junior in 2008-09.

Eidsness is an entrepreneurship major who was named to the All-WCHA Academic team last season as a sophomore. LaPoint, a geography major, earned his first WCHA Scholar-Athlete Award last season while also earning his second straight All-WCHA Academic team selection.

Bruneteau majors in pre-entrepreneurship and Maris majors in accounting. Maris was an All-WCHA Academic selection last season.

The prestigious WCHA Scholar-Athlete Award was developed through Association member team Faculty Representatives and approved by the conference membership beginning with the 2005-06 season. To earn recognition as a WCHA Scholar-Athlete, conference-member student-athletes must have completed at least one year of residency at their present institution prior to the current academic year and must also have a grade-point average of at least 3.50 on a 4.0 scale for the previous two semesters or three quarters, or may qualify if his or her overall GPA is at least 3.50 for all terms at his or her present institution.

UND's men's hockey team has boasted 19 recipients of the WCHA Scholar-Athlete Award since its inception in 2005-06, including a team-record six in each of the last two seasons.