PARSIPPANY — Nikolajs Grinvalds, of Lake Hiawatha, was one of 17 Elmira College student-athletes on the men’s ice hockey team placed on the 2018-19 rendition of the United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) All-Academic Team, as announced by the conference office.
The Soaring Eagles have had over 10 student-athletes earn academic plaudits from the UCHC office for the second-straight season, and it marks the sixth consecutive season that the Soaring Eagles have achieved the feat, dating back to their time in the ECAC West.
Chris Moses ’19, Blake O’Neill ’19 and Charl Pretorius ’19 all earned the honor for the third time in their careers. Adam Eby ’21, Calvin Hughson ’20, Harry Kramer ’20, Aleksi Ojala ’21, Connor Powell ’20, Andrew Pucci ’20 and Patrick Schmelzinger ’20 earned the distinction for the second consecutive season.
Six student-athletes were honored by the conference for the first time, as Matthew Cuce ’20, Nick Grinvalds ’22, Marty Kapoian ’22, Spencer MacLean ’20, Anthony Parrucci ’20, Justin Robertson ’21, and Dan Smith ’21 were named to the All-Academic Team after stellar years in the classroom.
In order to be eligible for the UCHC All-Academic Team, a player must have completed at least one academic year at their current institution, while holding a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 for all terms of the stipulated 2018-19 academic year. A total of 174 student-athletes from the UCHC’s 10 member institutions were recognized for their academic performance.
Founded in 1855, Elmira College is a private, residential, liberal arts college offering 30-plus majors, an honors program, 17 academic societies, and 20 Division III varsity teams. Located in the Southern Finger Lakes Region of New York, Elmira’s undergraduate and graduate student population hails from more than 20 states and nine countries. Elmira is a Phi Beta Kappa College and has been ranked a top college, nationally, for student internships. The College is also home to the Center for Mark Twain Studies, one of four historically significant Twain heritage sites in the U.S., which attracts Twain scholars and educators from around the world for research on the famous literary icon. Proud of its history and tradition, the College is committed to the ideals of community service, and intellectual and individual growth.
