MIAC ELITE 22 AWARD - 2016-17 WINTER SPORTS

MINNEAPOLIS -- Augsburg College hockey players Chris Nuth (SR, Trabuco Canyon, Calif./Mission Viejo HS) and Megan Johnson (SO, Madison, Wis./Memorial HS) were named as the winners of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Elite 22 awards for academic excellence in men's and women's hockey, it was recently announced.

The MIAC's Elite 22 Award, modeled after the NCAA's Elite 90 honor, is given to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average among competing teams at MIAC playoff championship games in team sports, and among all-conference honorees at MIAC championships in individual sports. According to the MIAC, student-athletes must have achieved sophomore status and be in at least their second seasons with their current team.

Nuth is a finance and economics/business administration major with a perfect 4.0 GPA, while Johnson is a mathematics major with a 3.96 GPA. Johnson earned All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team honors this season, after earning All-MIAC Honorable Mention honors last year. Nuth was an Academic All-MIAC honoree last year.

A forward, Nuth is a member of an Auggie men's hockey squad that claimed the MIAC playoff championship for the second straight year, qualifying for the NCAA Division III national tournament for the fourth time in school history. The Auggies (17-4-6 overall, 9-2-5 MIAC) will face St. Norbert (Wis.) in an NCAA quarterfinal game this Saturday (3/18) at 7 p.m. in De Pere, Wis.

Nuth scored three goals with nine assists for 12 points, claiming a goal or assist in 12 of his 26 games this season, including a goal in Augsburg's 5-4 overtime win over Saint Mary's in the MIAC playoff semifinals on Feb. 25. In 67 collegiate career games, playing three seasons at Augsburg after playing his first year at Wisconsin-Eau Claire, he has scored eight goals with 14 assists for 22 career points.

A forward, Johnson has been a key player for an Augsburg (19-8-0 overall, 14-4-0 MIAC) squad that finished second in the MIAC regular-season standings and reached the MIAC playoff championship game for the first time since the 2003-04 season.

Johnson scored six goals with four assists for 10 points, claiming a goal or assist in eight of her 27 games played this season. In her 53-game collegiate career, she has scored 17 goals with 11 assists for 28 career points.

The MIAC's Elite 22 award was established in the 2013-14 school year. Nuth and Johnson bring Augsburg's all-time Elite 22 total to three; Lauren Rice earned the honor for women's indoor track and field in 2013-14.