Former Vipers Genoway and Crowell Earn WCHA Scholastic Honours:

Seven BCHL alums earn WCHA scholastic honours

Thursday, February 10, 2011 - Submitted by BCHL Media/WCHA

The Western Collegiate Hockey Association announced its 2011 scholar-athlete awards Thursday, naming three British Columbia Hockey League graduates.

Former Vernon Vipers defenceman Chay Genoway, now in his senior season and a captain with the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux, became just the third-ever athlete in association history to claim the honour four times.

In January, Genoway - who is majoring in management at North Dakota - was also one of six BCHL grads to be nominated for the Hobey Baker Award as the top player in NCAA hockey.

Finance majors had a great deal of success in the classroom as Kyle Ostrow of Denver University and Jordy Christian and Brian Volpei of St. Cloud State University all earned WCHA recognition. Ostrow is a Nanaimo Clippers graduate while Christian and Volpei played for the Prince George Kings and Salmon Arm SilverBacks respectively.

Former Vernon Viper Chris Crowell earned the nod studying civil engineering at the University of Alaska-Anchorage and at Michigan Tech, former Prince George Spruce King Kevin Genoe took the honour as well studying the same subject.

Jake Areshenko, who played for the Powell River Kings and Burnaby Express before going to the United States Hockey League, is undecided on a major but met the scholastic requirement to be recognized.

To earn recognition as a WCHA scholar-athlete, 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.