Hockey Earns Postseason WHAC Recognition

(Howell, MI)-- The Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) has announced it's 2023-24 conference awards, and multiple Cougars have been recognized.

Wes Smith was named to the First Team All-WHAC, and becomes the first Cougar all time to be named to the all-conference team.  Smith finished the regular season with 22 goals and 33 assists to total 55 points.  Smith's 55 points rank tied for 17th across all ACHA divisions, and second in ACHA division 1.  The 22 goals are second most all time in a single season for Cleary, and the 33 assists and 55 points are the most in a single season in Cleary history.

Also recognized was head coach Scott Gardiner who was named the WHAC Coach of the Year.  In his first full season as the head coach, Gardiner improved Cleary's win total from 11 win to 16, and the WHAC wins from 8 to 10 wins, both the most in Cleary history.  The season also included wins over nationally ranked Indiana Tech for the first time, and a season split with nationally ranked Lawrence Tech.  Gardiner holds a 22-29 overall record, and 15-22 record within the WHAC.  He is only the second Cleary head coach to earn the WHAC's coach of the year award since the program joined the conference in 2018-19.

Cleary would also have players named to the Champions of Character team and the All-Academic team.  Being named to the Champions of Character team was Wes Smith, who was nominated as the best representative for the NAIA's five core values of integrity, respect, responsibility, servant leadership, and sportsmanship.  The following were named to the WHAC's All-Academic team for sophomores or above who hold at least a 3.25 cumulative GPA:

Marc Alexander
Joe Heinzelman
Peter Houston
Ben Kozar
Tyler Krasofsky
Derry MacBeth
Brady Meyer
Alessandro Nicastro
Justin Reddy
Cam Thomas
Erik Wafer

For a complete list of all the WHAC student-athletes recognized, go to https://www.whac.net/sports/acha/2023-24/releases/20240214t1czb3.