Lawrence University is not an easy university to attend. Some have even gone so far as to give Lawrence the nickname “the Harvard of the Midwest.” Despite the busy lives that every Lawrence student lives because of meetings, extracurricular activities and maintaining a social life, we have to somehow manage to cram in material that other universities have 16 weeks per semester to learn in 10 weeks. Earning good grades at Lawrence University is no easy feat.
Despite these challenges, this year, the Lawrence University Hockey team achieved a tall feat. Twelve Lawrence University student-athletes have been named to the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association All-Academic team. Of the twelve Lawrence University hockey players to make the all-academic team, four of them are from the senior class. The seniors that received this honor are Jake Roeper, Lane King, Matt Montemurro and Austin Frank. Greg Procopio, Nick Felan and Tomas Vesely represented the junior class that received this honor. Last but not least, Matt Beranek, Evan Cline, Jake Drinkard, Daniel Gysi and Chase Wiedemann are the sophomores that were named to the team. The criteria to be selected for the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association All-Academic team is that a student-athlete must be at least in their sophomore year and have a minimum 3.3 grade point average.
Roeper was selected to the all-academic team for the third consecutive year. Roeper set the bar high for his teammates because he met the criteria to be named on the all-academic team every year he was eligible. Seniors King and Montemurro were not close behind Roeper; they were both honored for the second time. Procopio, Felan, and Vesely from the junior class were all selected to the all-academic team for the second time. They all can join Roeper in being named to the all-academic team for the third consecutive time. The first-time honorees are all from the sophomore class except for senior Frank. Overall, the Vikings have one three-time selection, five two-time selections and six others were honored for the first time.
Of the twelve men’s hockey players to be named to the all-academic team, the geology, government, neuroscience, biology and chemistry majors were represented each by one athlete. The economic major had the most athletes, eight, to be honored. Coincidence? I think not! Those group study sessions are definitely paying off, which means that teamwork does indeed make the dream work. For those of you actually paying attention and counted 13 athletes instead of 12, Roeper double majored in economics and geology. The Lawrence University Hockey team should be proud of this big accomplishment. The main cause for this celebration is that these 12 selections to the all-academic team are the most ever that the LU hockey team has ever had. Congratulations, boys, from the Lawrence community.
