College of
St. Scholastica

Feb. 28, 2005

UW-River Falls defenseman Tony Sikich has been named the first recipient of the NCHA's men's Scholar-Athlete award.

Sikich, a 5-11, 175 pounder from Apple Valley, Minn., has a 3.72 grade point average and is majoring in accounting with a minor in finance. He has been named to the NCHA All-Academic team in 2004 and 2005 and to the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Scholastic Honor Roll in 2000, 2002 and 2003. He has been named to the University's Dean's List seven times. He is a member of Sigma Beta Delta, an international business honors society.

Sikich was named the NCHA Player of the Week on Feb. 14, 2005 and on Feb. 9, 2004. He has been named the team's Player of the Week four times in his career. He is one of the team's captains this season. He is currently fourth on the team in scoring with 10 goals and 23 points. He is the team's top scoring defenseman. He has scored six power-play and two game-winning goals. A versatile athlete, he played forward for the Falcons in previous seasons but was moved to defense this year. Sikich has played in 78 career games and scored 25 goals and has 60 points. He has scored nine power-play goals and five game-winning goals. He was a member of the Falcon teams that played in the 2003 and 2004 NCAA Div. III National Tournament.

Also nominated for the 2005 award were: UW-Stout forward Kory Mortel and Lake Forest defenseman Rob Nerland.

To be nominated for the NCHA Scholar-Athlete award, a student-athlete must have a minimum 3.50 grade point average and be in his last year of competition.

The Scholar-Athlete award is presented to the most outstanding senior during the year who exhibits the greatest combination of performance and achievement in academics, athletics and leadership.

NCHA Men's Scholar-Athletes

Tony Sikich