Four Huskies named WCHA Scholar-Athletes
BLOOMINGTON Minn. – Michigan Tech hockey players Brent Baltus, Thomas Beretta, Devin Kero, and Dylan Steman were among the 141 recipients of the 13th annual WCHA Scholar-Athlete Award the league announced on Wednesday (Feb. 21).
Baltus, a senior forward from Nanaimo, British Columbia, was one of the two recipients—and 15 in the history of the award—who received the award for the fourth year in a row.
Devin Kero (Sr., G, Hancock, Michigan), and Dylan Steman (Sr., F, Hanover, Minnesota) are two of 30 recipients who are now three-time honorees. Thomas Beretta (So., F, Orangeville, Ontario) was also recognized.
Baltus holds a 4.00 grade point average as he pursues his MBA. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in mathematics in the spring. The Huskies captain has appeared in 26 games this season and has tied his career-high with 19 points on nine goals and 10 assists. He is second on the team with 124 career games.
Kero has a 3.83 GPA in business management and has appeared in 11 games during his senior season, starting nine. Kero has a 5-4-1 record with a 2.44 goals against average and .909 save percentage.
Steman has a 3.97 GPA in mechanical engineering. In 34 games this season, Steman has six goals and nine assists and serves as an alternate captain.
Beretta holds a 3.55 GPA in business management and has also appeared in all 34-of-35 games. The sophomore has a career-high seven goals this season and has added two assists.
The WCHA through Northern Michigan University President Dr. Fritz Erickson (Chair, Men's League) and Bemidji State University Director of Athletics Tracy Dill (Chair, Women's League), along with Commissioners Bill Robertson (Men's League) and Katie Million (Women's League), made the announcement.
"On behalf of the entire Western Collegiate Hockey Association family, we extend our sincere congratulations to all our WCHA Scholar-Athletes for 2017-18," said Dr. Erickson, Dill, Robertson and Million in a joint statement. "We are lucky to have a truly exceptional group of young men and women attending our institutions and competing in our conference. Our Scholar-Athlete Award recipients are a testament to the very best of the student-athlete ideal, showcasing exemplary effort and dedication to all facets of the university experience.
"We are thrilled to publicly recognize the terrific academic accomplishments of these 141 student-athletes, who have maintained high standards in their studies while competing at the top level of collegiate hockey. Similarly, we salute the successful commitment of our member institutions to the WCHA mission of providing the very best experience, both on and off the ice. Each WCHA Scholar-Athlete Award recipient is a wonderful representative of the Association and its schools; we commend and applaud them all."
The WCHA Scholar-Athlete Award was developed through member team Faculty Representatives and approved by the conference membership for the 2005-06 season. To earn recognition as a WCHA Scholar-Athlete, conference-member 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/her overall GPA is at least 3.50 for all terms at his or her present institution.
Over the 13 years of the award, there have now been more than 1,100 WCHA Scholar-Athlete honorees representing every men's and women's member institution. Seventy-eight of this season's 141 recipients are repeat honorees, with 30 of those now being three-time honorees.