COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Thirteen Saint John's University hockey student-athletes earned 2018-19 America Hockey Coaches' Association (AHCA) All-America Scholar honors on Tuesday, July 30.
The AHCA All-American Scholar Program, sponsored by Krampade, is a distinguished recognition presented to more than 1,000 student-athletes by the AHCA. To qualify for the award, an NCAA Division I or III men's hockey student-athlete must have attained at least a 3.6 grade-point-average during the 2018-19 academic year and participated in 40 percent of the team's games.
The Johnnies recognized (listed alphabetically) were:
-Freshman forward
Braden Altena (St. Cloud, Minn.), an environmental studies major;
-Senior forward
Joe Chitwood (Carmel, Ind.), a biology major (pre-medicine emphasis);
-Senior forward
Matt Colford (Champlin, Minn.), a global business leadership major;
-Sophomore defenseman
Jake Dittel (St. Paul, Minn.), an economics major;
-Sophomore forward
Tanner Dufault (Kasson, Minn.), a nursing major;
-Senior defenseman
Grady Ewing (St. Cloud, Minn.), a mathematics major;
-Sophomore forward
Ryan Kero (Hermantown, Minn.), an accounting and economics double-major;
-Freshman forward
Davis Kirkendall (Hamel, Minn.), a global business leadership major;
-Senior defenseman
Sean Lang (Apple Valley, Minn.), a global business leadership major;
-Senior forward
Evan Okeley (Carmel, Ind.), an accounting major;
-Junior defenseman
Adam Orn (Ramsey, Minn.), an economics major;
-Senior forward
Garrett Riebling (Chanhassen, Minn.), a global business leadership major;
-Senior forward
Robb Stautz (Roseville, Minn.), an accounting major.
Two other Johnnies, sophomore defenseman
Troy Dobbs (Lancaster, N.Y.) and junior defenseman
Cole Souto (Yorba Linda, Calif.), received Academic All-MIAC recognition in June due to their cumulative GPA above a 3.5.
As a team, the 28 Johnnies combined for a 3.40 cumulative GPA in 2018-19.
The Johnnies went 4-1-2 over their final seven conference games to finish second in the MIAC for the second consecutive season with a 9-4-3 conference record (12-10-5 overall) in 2018-19. SJU made its sixth trip to the MIAC Playoffs in the last eight years and fell to Augsburg in the MIAC Championship game, 2-1 in four overtimes.
