May 22, 2008

BEMIDJI, Minn. — Bemidji State University men's hockey defenseman Riley Weselowski (Sr., Pilot Mound, Manitoba) and center Travis Winter (Jr., St. Cloud, Minn.) have been selected to the ESPN The Magazine / College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) University Division All-District V At-Large Teams. Weselowski records his third consecutive appearance on the all-district squad with a first-team nod, while Winter makes his award debut on the second team.

Weselowski played in 35 of the Beavers' 36 games in 2007-08 ranking third among BSU defenders scoring 3-7=10 points. Despite failing to score during Bemidji State's first 13 contests, Weselowski saved his best for last. He netted five points (1-4=5) in the last seven games of the season, which included one of his two multi-point contests of the year as he scored a pair of assists in College Hockey America regular-season crown clinching, 5-3 victory over Wayne State University and a game-winner in a 7-5 win the evening before.

Winter, a two-time All-CHA pick, posted 9-15=24 points to finish third on the team in scoring while his three game-winners ranked second behind teammate Cody Bostock's (Jr., Salmon Arm, British Columbia) for the team lead. As one of five BSU players to step on the ice for every one of BSU's 36 contests, he capped the season with a team-best +11 plus/minus rating.

The junior also registered four multi-point games on the season with his 2-1=3 points in a 7-2 victory at Robert Morris standing as the third two-goal game of his career and his best scoring night of 2007-08.

With 20 student-athletes recognized between the District V first and second teams, Weselowski and Winter were the only representatives from any of the five CHA member institutions and held their own as two of just six men's hockey players named to the list.

Weselowski and Winter continue a legacy of academic excellence within the BSU men's hockey program. Since 2003, 10 BSU skaters have been selected as All-District honorees, while Peter Jonsson advanced on to garner First-Team Academic All-America laurels following the 2005 campaign.

The men's hockey duo also become the fourth and fifth BSU student-athletes to earn Academic All-District honors so far this academic year. They join women's basketball standout Amy Lawson (Sr., Spencer, Iowa), linebacker Zach Christ (Sr., Buffalo, Minn.) and soccer player Megan Wallner (Sr., Bemidji, Minn.) who were named to the District V squads during their respective season.

BSU has had at least one student-athlete named to the all-district team in each of the last six years and boasts 13 academic All-America selections dating back to the 1970s.

The CoSIDA Academic All-District Teams are selected by a vote of the 2,200-member CoSIDA. To be eligible, an athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve and maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.20 on a scale of 4.00. Sports information directors nominate eligible athletes from their schools, who are then voted onto the All-District teams. First-Team All-District honorees advance to the Academic All-America ballot. The program honors 816 student-athletes nation wide each year, and since the program’s inception in 1952 over 16,000 have been named to Academic All-America Teams

Bemidji State, located in Bemidji, Minn., is a member of NCAA Division I and competes within College Hockey America.

The BSU men’s ice hockey team is coming off a season in which it captured its third CHA regular-season title with a league mark of 13-4-3 and recorded its sixth consecutive season with a winning percentage of .500 or better recording an overall record of 17-16-3.

--bsu--