EDINA, Minn. – On Thursday, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA), with association of Bowling Green State University President Mary Ellen Mazey (Chair, Men's League) and Commissioner Bill Robertson, announced that senior forward Nolan Huysmans and sophomore defenseman Zach Frye was selected as WCHA Scholar-Athlete Award recipients for the 2015-16 season.
"It's a great honor for these guys, obviously they're student-athletes but they're students before athletes and these are two guys who lead by example in the classroom and are very serious about their academics," head coach Dallas Ferguson said of his two recipients. "I think they are two guys who enjoy their academics and they do well in school because they see an importance to it, but I think it's also special when you can see they are enjoying the process and getting an education here at UAF."
Per the WCHA release, "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/her overall GPA is at least a 3.50 for all terms at his or her present institution."
A record of 123 conference-member student-athletes (both men's and women's division) make up the 11th annual group of WCHA Scholar Athletes, as the award was developed through member teams' Faculty Representatives and approved by the WCHA in the 2005-06 season. Fifty-nine (59) of this year's 123 recipients were repeat honorees, with Huysmans being one of 20 student-athletes who are three-time honorees. Frye and Huysmans account for two of the 73 honorees who hail from the men's division of the WCHA.
Nolan Huysmans – Sr., F (Ponoka, Alberta/Accounting)
Receiving the 2015-16 WCHA Scholar-Athlete Award marks Huysmans third time receiving the honor during his four-year career with the Alaska Nanooks. In addition to being a three-time WCHA Scholar-Athlete recipient, Huysmans is a two-time WCHA All-Academic Team member (2013-14, 2014-15) and two-time Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) FAR Student-Athlete (2012-13, 2013-14). An Accounting major, Huysmans is set to graduate from the University of Alaska in spring of 2016 after staying on track to graduate in four years. In addition, Huysmans has already secured an internship over the summer with a notable accounting firm in Anchorage, Alaska.
"Being a senior, I've seen him set goals for himself in the classroom from the moment he arrived here as a freshman," Ferguson said of Huysmans. "As he's gone through the process here, I think he's evolved as a student and as a young man, he's engaged in other activities on campus besides being in the classroom and the rink. I think he's taken his experience from here and starting to look into the future on how to use it. With his internship coming up this summer, I think that's the beauty of him taking the education he's getting here and applying it to his professional career after hockey."
Zach Frye – So., D (Spokane, Washington/Business Administration)
This year marks the first time Frye has been honored as a WCHA Scholar-Athlete, as the sophomore defenseman wasn't eligible during his rookie campaign (2014-15). Additionally, Frye was named the Alternate Captain on this year's hockey team, being the first sophomore to receive an honor since former Alaska Nanooks captain Colton Parayko, during the 2013-14 season.
"Zach has been selected as a captain for us as a sophomore, which is not always the case on teams, but I think part of his commitment to the classroom was an important part of that process of us deciding on him," Ferguson said of Frye. "I think it demonstrates how great of students we have here at UAF, including Frye, who takes school seriously and understands the correlation between being successful in the classroom and being successful on the ice and in life. We, as a coaching staff, appreciate these guys' efforts."
The Alaska Nanooks hockey team takes on Bowling Green State University in a two-game WCHA series at the Carlson Center on Friday, Feb. 19 and Saturday, Feb. 20 at 7:07 p.m. For more information on the Alaska Nanooks Hockey team, follow @NanooksHockey on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks Hockey page on Facebook.
