Denver's Ted O'Leary, North Dakota's Meghan Mutrie Named Men's and Women's WCHA Post-Graduate Scholarship Recipients for 2006-07
Denver's Ted O'Leary is the Men's WCHA Post-Graduate Scholarship Winner. |
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May 8, 2006
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MADISON, WI - The Western Collegiate Hockey Association today (May 8) announced the recipients of the league's annual Post-Graduate Scholarship Program for 2006-07. The men's winner is Ted O'Leary of the University of Denver and the women's winner is Meghan Mutrie of the University of North Dakota.
An advocate of excellence both on and off the ice, the WCHA announced it's new annual post-graduate scholarship program in April of 2003 and made it effective beginning with the 2003-04 school year. The post-graduate scholarships are two grants of $5,000 each that are presented annually to a male and female student-athlete for post-graduate studies.
The original announcement of the WCHA Post-Graduate Scholarship program was made jointly by P.J. Hill, then Chair of the Association and current Faculty Representative from University of Alaska Anchorage and Bruce M. McLeod, WCHA Commissioner. In announcing the post-graduate scholarship program, Hill said, "This represents another positive step forward for the Western Collegiate Hockey Association in the area and recognition of academic achievement. We are extremely proud of the excellent reputation our member institutions have in both athletics and academics, and this new post-graduate scholarship program will only enhance that."
O'Leary, a senior from Arvada, Colo., was a four-year member of the Denver Pioneers' hockey team after originally being a walk-on. He earned multiple varsity letters as a forward, played on back-to-back national championship teams in 2004 and 2005, was honored with the WCHA's prestigious Student-Athlete of the Year for 2005-06, was in the inaugural group of 50 WCHA Scholar-Athletes announced this past February, and three times earned selection to the All-WCHA Academic Team. An alternate team captain this past season while playing in 37 games (67 career games played), he owns a 3.85 cumulative GPA at Denver and is currently enrolled in the Daniels College of Business, pursuing an MBA. After completing his MBA, he plans to progress on to medical school. His undergraduate major at Denver was biological sciences and he was on the pre-medical school track throughout his career there.
Denver head hockey coach George Gwozdecky said O'Leary is the epitome of the student-athlete. "Ted has made an outstanding contribution to the University of Denver Pioneer hockey program," said Gwozdecky. "Ted has played an important role as a defensive specialist and penalty-killer and has always set the example for his teammates with his mature and serious approach to both his academics and his hockey training. He is an outstanding student, has volunteered his time to many community activities, including the Starlight Foundation and the University of Denver Youth Hockey Association, and has also represented the DU program at numerous other events throughout the region. I am very proud to have Ted O'Leary as a member of the Pioneer Hockey program, and as a medical school student he will represent both DU and the WCHA in a first class and proud manner."
Nominated for the WCHA Post-Graduate Scholarship by Denver Faculty Athletics Representative Nancy Sampson, O'Leary is the son of Michael and Kathleen O'Leary.
Mutrie, a senior at the University of North Dakota from Calgary, Alberta, is much more than a hockey player. According to her coach, Shantel Rivard, "Meghan is a quality student-athlete, where student does not take a back seat to her multiple athletic endeavors. She is a lively, energetic, hard-working, driven, talented and giving student and athlete. She has the ability to do whatever her heart desires and is an excellent recipient of the WCHA Post-Graduate Scholarship."
Also according to Rivard, she is the team's fittest player, was the recipient of the team's Ironwoman Award in 2005, and has done the most community service out of all 550 student-athletes in the UND athletic department in 2003-04 and 2004-05. She has been awarded the Sioux Service Award and was one of 18 candidates for the Hockey Humanitarian Award in 2005-06.
A Psychology major at UND, Mutrie carries a 3.65 career GPA, was among the inaugural group of 50 honorees for the new WCHA Scholar-Athlete Award this past February, and is a member of the All-WCHA Academic Team. She has been the North Dakota team's Academic Champion (player with the highest GPA for the year) two years in a row (2004 and 2005) while playing in a total of 95 collegiate games for the Sioux with five goals, five assists and 10 scoring points. She came to UND with only two years of ice hockey playing experience and was formerly a ringette player in Canada. In addition to playing Division 1 hockey for the Sioux, she has been a key player for UND's soccer team and is also in the elite pool of players at the National Level for Team Canada's Rugby team. She will be attending grad school in the fall of 2007, after spending a year in New Zealand where she has an opportunity to improve her rugby skills in hopes of marking the Canadian National Women's Rugby Team and will also travel throughout Europe.
Nominated for the WCHA Post-Graduate Scholarship by North Dakota Faculty Athletics Representative Phil Harmeson, Meghan says her ultimate academic goal is to earn a PhD in clinical psychology and open a private practice. She is the daughter of Dean and Rose Mutrie,
The first two winners of the WCHA's Post-Graduate Scholarship in 2003-04 were Mike Colgan of Colorado College and Michelle McAteer of University of Minnesota Duluth. The 2004-05 recipients of the WCHA's Post-Graduate Scholarship were Reid Goolsby of Colorado College and Emma Laaksonen of Ohio State University, and the 2005-06 recipients were Jake Brandt of the University of North Dakota and Kelsey Bills of the University of Minnesota.
Following is an outline of the WCHA's post-graduate scholarship program:
Criteria: 1. the nominee must graduate by the end of the academic year (or by the end of the summer) and must have earned at least a 3.0 grade-point average. 2. the nominee must have competed in the WCHA for at least three years.
Nominating Process: A student-athlete must be nominated by the Faculty Athletics Representative. Nominations are due April 15th.
Selection Process: Scholarship recipients and alternates will be selected by a vote of an Association Committee composed of five Faculty Athletics Representatives. The Association selection committee(s) will review and make the final selections. The committee(s) may select one male and one female winner annually to receive the WCHA post-graduate scholarship, as well as an alternate for each scholarship. Selections will be made by the committee by May 15th.
Process Following Nomination and Selection: Following notification, the award winners have until July 1 to accept, in writing, the scholarship. Announcements will be made at the kick-off event at the student-athlete recipient's home venue, the following fall.
The winners must enroll in graduate school within two years of graduation. Designated full-time enrollment (post-graduate degree hours) shall be required and verification from the program director must be presented to the Conference office before the award shall be presented. The scholarship money ($5,000) will be sent directly to the post-graduate institution.
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